Denmark to close ports to Tesla shipments to Sweden

Another day, a new chapter in the weeks-long Tesla strike in Sweden begins – but this time, Danish unions join a sympathy strike with IF Metall to unload and transport Tesla cars to Sweden. announced the cancellation of the trade union, forming the beginning of the Nordic trade union. Port blockade against Tesla.

Today, dockworkers and drivers from Denmark’s 3F union released a statement saying they too will take action against Tesla.This means it will no longer be possible for Tesla to bypass the Danish port and avoid the blockade by Swedish dockers, the report said. bloomberg. Finland’s transport unions are also scheduled to meet this week to decide on a response. Norwegian dockworkers also said they would refuse to unload Tesla cars bound for Sweden.

Nordic countries threaten to block Tesla shipments to Sweden

If all Scandinavian transport unions join in the blockade against Tesla (a seemingly very likely scenario), the only option (other than signing a collective agreement, of course) is to deliver the vehicles by truck from Germany. It turns out. Calculating the driving distance with our trusty Google Maps, it’s about a seven-hour drive each way from Tesla’s Giga Berlin to Malmö and across the Øresund Bridge from Denmark to the nearest major city. Of course, each truck can only transport a few vehicles compared to the ship’s carrying capacity.

“Even if you are one of the richest people in the world, you cannot arbitrarily make your own rules,” John Trygve Tollefsen, president of the American Trade Union Confederation, said in a statement (from Danish). translation). “There are several labor market agreements in the Nordic region that you must abide by if you want to operate a business here. Solidarity is the basis of the trade union movement and extends beyond national borders. We are now using the tools we have to ensure collective agreements and fair working conditions.”

Unions engaging in sympathy actions are part of the Scandinavian labor market, and it is not unheard of for such actions to cross national borders. In 2015, Swedish pilots took part in a solidarity strike with Norwegian pilots on the Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA.

Last month, about 130 Swedish mechanics who service Tesla cars and belong to the IF Metall union went on strike after Tesla rejected their offer to bargain collectively. Since then, thousands of workers in Sweden, from longshoremen to car dealers to even postal workers, have joined forces to refrain from mentioning anything Tesla-related until Tesla signs a collective bargaining agreement with IF Metall. is refusing. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is notoriously anti-union, called the country’s actions “insane.”

Last week, Tesla filed a double lawsuit against the Swedish Transport Agency and the country’s postal service after workers refused to issue license plates for its cars, and Swedish courts quickly sided with Tesla. Hours after the lawsuit was filed, the court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the company to deliver the plates within a week. A second lawsuit against PostNord, which also blocks other deliveries and mail for Tesla, is awaiting a court ruling this week.

Although Tesla doesn’t like it, unions are an essential part of the Swedish labor model, with around 90% of the workforce protected by collective agreements aimed at standardizing wages, insurance and pensions and protecting working conditions. ing.

Danish transport workers say they will begin legal action against Tesla within two weeks, after a mandatory two-week notice period.