Hundreds of Tesla employees in Sweden have been on strike for around a month. The reason: the electric car manufacturer is refusing to enter into collective bargaining. Postal delivery staff have also joined in solidarity and are refusing to hand over license plates. Tesla has now filed a lawsuit against the Swedish state.
E-car manufacturer Tesla filed a lawsuit against Sweden via the Swedish Transport Administration on Monday, November 27, 2023. This is according to a report in the Swedish business newspaper Dagens Industri.
The background: Hundreds of Tesla employees have been on strike for months due to the lack of collective bargaining. Numerous mail carriers have also joined in solidarity and have since refused to issue license plates.
Tesla sues Sweden for missing license plates
As part of its lawsuit, Tesla is now criticizing the failings of the Swedish transport authority and demanding that the license plates be delivered. The e-car manufacturer even speaks of a “discriminatory attack without any legal basis”.
Tesla is also demanding a fine of one million kroner (around 87,000 euros) if the authority does not comply with the demand.
The strike in Sweden began at the end of October 2023, when the Swedish Metalworkers’ Union announced industrial action against the company because the electric car manufacturer refused to enter into collective bargaining.
Solidarity dispute hinders operations
The protest was met with great sympathy in Sweden. This is because collective agreements form the basis of the Swedish labor market model. Almost 90 percent of all employees there have a collective agreement. To support the metalworkers’ union, dock workers and postal delivery staff have also joined the strike.
Since then, Tesla has no longer been able to operate in a regulated manner in Scandinavia. According to the Swedish transport authorities, it is not possible to send the license plates via a supplier other than the national postal company. This is according to the current postal regulations. The authorities’ hands are therefore tied.
According to the statement of claim, Tesla cannot sell e-cars in Sweden without license plates. Meanwhile, the transport authority declined to make a specific statement. Reason: The exact legal arguments are still unclear. The e-car manufacturer is in turn calling on the court to take action.
