Tesla Sweden expands operations fueling IF Metall’s strike. Tesla is investing in a new damage workshop and ten new charging stations in Sweden despite IF Metall’s ongoing strike, which started in October 2023.
The all-electric automaker is already hiring for its new workshop in Huddinge, Stockholm. Tesla Sweden plans to hire seven employees at the workshop, including painters, claims adjusters, and sheet metal workers.
IF Metall plans to stand outside Tesla’s new workshop and picket. The Swedish union also plans on recruiting the new employees Tesla hires for the workshop.
IF Metall has tried to put the hammer down on Tesla employees who are union members. Local reports suggest that most Tesla union members are not actively participating in IF Metall’s strike. The union has resorted to some alarming actions to get the automaker’s unionized employees to join its cause.
“They have called and sent messages, and they have really tried to explain what the strike means and why I should join before I was then excluded.
“And it sounded threatening actually, they have said that I will never be able to work in a union shop in the future and no unions will represent me in the future. That’s how I understood it. That they will gang up against me,” said a Tesla employee who was excluded by IF Metall for not joining its strike.
div class=”in-article-ad”>The union’s contract secretary, Veli-Pekka Säikkälä, claims that Tesla’s latest move is a means to avoid collective agreements as the automaker still refuses to sign one with IF Metall.
“It is no secret that Tesla wants to bypass our industrial action. We will have to look at whether we need to issue a new notice depending on how it develops,” commented Målarna Communications Manager Johan Redén.
Members of the Painters’ Union, which amounts to 13,000 people, have been on sympathy strike with IF Metall and refuse to take on Tesla cars. However, not all painters in Sweden are part of the union.
IF Metall may also try to stop new Tesla Supercharger installations. Currently, the electricians’ sympathy strike against Tesla only covers service, repairs, or fault rectifications; it does not cover new installations. However, Ombudsman Petter Johansson stated that IF Metall and its supporters are looking for ways to extend the sympathy strike to include new Supercharger installations.
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