Tesla Unionization

[KBF]

Jag hade fel om Tesla-strejken, bara oskyldiga förlorar | Carup.se

Snart har Teslastrejken pågått i tre månader. Jag hade rätt i att det skulle bli en extremt långdragen historia – men helt fel när jag trodde att Tesla och Elon Musk skulle vara chanslösa mot alla blockader och sympatistrejker. De stora vinnarna är företag utan kollektivavtal och inget tycks...

carup.se

I was wrong about the Tesla strike, only innocents lose​

News 22 January 2024, 16:10by Maths Nilsson
Soon the Tesla strike has been going on for three months. I was right that it would be an extremely long story - but completely wrong when I thought that Tesla and Elon Musk would stand no chance against all the blockades and sympathy strikes. The big winners are companies without a collective agreement and nothing seems to bite Tesla. Those who lose are responsible companies with collective agreements and innocent car owners. Was this really how IF Metall had envisioned this?
CHRONICLE - THE OPINIONS ARE THE WRITER'S OWN. The strike against Tesla seems to be the new normal, as of Friday it has been going on for three months and not many people seem to care anymore. IF Metall's strikers are shivering in their tents in the sweltering cold at the same time that business is going on exactly as usual at Tesla with both service and deliveries. Neither suspended garbage collection, postal blockade of license plates or port blockades have had any major effect on Tesla. When the strike broke out three months ago, I wrote that Elon Musk would stand no chance against any industrial action . I was completely wrong.

Tesla is not a company like any other. They have in a short time become the world's most valued and most innovative car manufacturer, and the strike does not seem to bite Tesla. They find ways around all obstacles. They make cars just like before and they have found loopholes that allow more cars to be delivered than the previous year. IF Metall's blockades have been so tough that in the eyes of many, Tesla has begun to appear as a victim and many have gained a bad image of the union. It is about ten service technicians who are on strike, the rest are sympathy measures.
Nothing seems to bite Tesla, which has even managed to get around Postnord's and Seko's billboard blockade.
Instead, strangely enough, it is completely innocent, responsible companies that have signed collective agreements that have become the big losers. Large workshop chains such as Werksta and paint shops with collective agreements are no longer allowed to handle Tesla cars and suffer greatly. The subcontractor Hydro in Vetlanda has been forced to notify 20 employees because they are not allowed to deliver parts for Tesla's cars. Instead, there are workshops without collective agreements that have long queues and cut gold with a soap knife. The same applies to cleaners and garbage collectors at Tesla. They are no longer allowed to work there, instead the jobs go to companies without a collective agreement. Having a collective agreement has become a huge risk, because you can be selected in a sympathy strike, without a collective agreement you can drive on.
Completely innocent car owners are also affected. Anyone who bought a Tesla and had the misfortune of being hit or suffered some other damage can no longer have the car repaired by workshops with a collective agreement. The fact that innocent people are affected can be counted on in a strike, says IF Metall, but when the effect is not achieved it just appears as stupid and out of proportion.
Was this really what IF Metall had in mind when they went on strike at the end of October 2023? I think they had hoped to cripple Tesla's business, but that didn't happen and now there is no plan B. Tesla has no intention of giving up, and they have shown that they are not pulling out of Sweden no matter what happens. And what will IF Metall do now that they have even withdrawn the garbage collection and tried to close Tesla's Berlin factory? Should they hit even harder against innocent Tesla owners? Maybe we have to drag out the strike for years, because after three months nobody wants to give in or compromise.

I wonder what "cut gold with a soap knife" means? It's a fascinating idiom (or just very mistranslated?)

Came across this article today: Tesla Sweden workers may be fine now, but not as good as they would be with a union: IF Metall

Sounds like Tesla employees put out a banner saying "We're fine, thanks." Of course the IF Metall ombudsman can't fathom that employees could be happy without a CA, and could have creative ideas on their own (and worse yet, being loyal to Tesla), and accuse them of lying (insinuating they believe that it wasn't employees, though they aren't sharing any evidence, of course...).

 

[SwTslaGrl]

I wonder what "cut gold with a soap knife" means? It's a fascinating idiom (or just very mistranslated?)

Came across this article today: Tesla Sweden workers may be fine now, but not as good as they would be with a union: IF Metall

Sounds like Tesla employees put out a banner saying "We're fine, thanks." Of course the IF Metall ombudsman can't fathom that employees could be happy without a CA, and could have creative ideas on their own (and worse yet, being loyal to Tesla), and accuse them of lying (insinuating they believe that it wasn't employees, though they aren't sharing any evidence, of course...).

Another translation is "cut gold with carver's knife" meaning earning big money on increased business.

 

[heltok]

I wonder what "cut gold with a soap knife" means? It's a fascinating idiom (or just very mistranslated?)

Mistranslation. He wrote:
"skär guld med täljkniv"
Which means to cut gold with a carver's/sheath knife, this one:

Sometimes people attack google translate with incorrect suggestion, this might have been one of those. Checking google translate it gives soap knife:
täljkniv engelska

I sent them feedback and suggested the correct translation ^^

 

[heltok]

Tesla rundar blockaden – öppnar egen skadeverkstad

Avslöjas av jobbannonser – söker bland annat plåtslagare.

www.vibilagare.se

Tesla gets around the blockade with its own repair shop​

Published today 13:11 ( updated today 16:14)

Stock image: The image does not show Tesla's new damage workshop.
Tesla is to open the brand's first damage repair shop under its own auspices. "Then collective agreements will be even more important," says IF Metall's contract secretary.

It has been just over three months since IF Metall's strike against Tesla broke out , and a few weeks after the strike, a blockade against work on Tesla cars was also introduced at several large repair shops. We Bilägare have previously written about how several damaged Tesla cars got stuck in workshops due to the blockade.
Now Tesla plans to open its first body shop for sheet metal and painting work under its own auspices. It ends up in Huddinge south of Stockholm, near Tesla's current delivery location.
This is written by Dagens Arbete and refers to several job advertisements where Tesla is looking for, among other things, painters and sheet metal workers.
IF Metall's contract secretary Veli-Pekka Säikkälä tells the newspaper that "the strike has an effect" despite the fact that in recent months Tesla has both opened a new one in Jönköping , plans to expand with more fast chargers and opens its own damage repair shop.
- It is Tesla that opposes the current blockade and wants to open workshops under its own auspices. Then it becomes even more important to have collective agreements, so that they cannot compete with lower conditions against other workshops. The fight is even more important now, he tells DA.

IF Metall's contract secretary Veli-Pekka Säikkälä thinks that the conflict measures have yielded results. Photo: Daniel Roos
In an interview with Vi Bilägare, Veli-Pekka Säikkälä says that the announcement does not come as news.
- We know that they have a strategy with their own repair shops. It's no secret. There are those who said that Tesla will leave Sweden because of the conflict, but I don't believe that for a second. They have a completely different strategy, namely to expand the business. Then the collective agreement issue becomes even more important.
Tesla is therefore expanding in Sweden and the Model Y became the most popular model last year. Do you think the conflict measures are working?
- More steps can always be taken, but we never tell you about that in advance. We know it's difficult for Tesla. Although the Model Y became the best-selling car, not nearly as many cars were sold in the final quarter as in the rest of the year. Then it is clear that it takes a lot of energy for mechanics and officials to have to keep up and sort garbage. And instead of bringing in a boat with 800–1,200 cars by boat, they must be transported by car.

Update 14.10: Tesla confirms the information about the damage workshop but has no other comments at the moment.
Update 16.00: The article has been updated with a comment by Veli-Pekka Säikkälä at IF Metall.

 

[heltok]

Tesla är inte förloraren när facket härjar

LEDARE: LEDARE. Efter tre månader av strejk mot Tesla har facket skördat sina första offer på arbetsmarknaden. Med de militanta stridsåtgärder som tagits till för att tvinga fram ett kollektivavtal var det bara en tidsfråga.

www.di.se

Tesla is not the loser when the union rages​

LEADER. After three months of strike against Tesla, the union has reaped its first victims in the labor market. With the militant industrial action being taken to force a collective agreement, it was only a matter of time.
Updated: January 23, 2024, 2:57 p.mPublished: January 23, 2024, 2:55 p.m

Leader: Ellen Gustafsson​

Despite the fact that the LO bond has been covered up in the union's anti-campaign against Tesla, the company's electric cars continue to break records. Customers love them. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT
But don't think that Tesla is the one affected. Despite the fact that the LO bond has been covered up in the union's anti-campaign against the company, their electric cars continue to break records. Customers love them.

In 2023, the Tesla Model Y became the most popular new car in the country. If the trend continues, it will no longer be Volvo, villa, doggy that characterize the Swedish lifestyle. The car model has not only taken over Swedish country roads but also the motorway down to the continent, where last year it became Europe's best-selling car.
By and large, the company's operations in Sweden continue as usual with 90 percent of the workforce at work. Each countermeasure has been deftly parried by Tesla. There are no mountains of rubbish at the workshops despite the union stopping all waste management, the company has rented a van and handles it themselves. Postnord's refusal to hand out registration plates solves Tesla through a loophole with replacement plates from the Swedish Transport Agency, something the authority does not oppose.
Instead, it is Swedish companies with collective agreements that have to pay the price when the union hunts American tech companies to fatten its already bloated ego. For example in Vetlanda, where Hydro Extrusion manufactures aluminum profiles for crash protection for Tesla's factory in Berlin. Since the end of November, it is one of all companies whose work has been blockaded.
The other week, they were forced to notify 20 people of redundancy, several of them members of IF Metall who now have to face unemployment in a recession. According to Hydro Extrusion's CEO, it is "directly connected" to the union's conflict with Tesla. Without it, no warning.
This is what trade union solidarity looks like in practice. In its quest for prestige, the union sacrifices companies and employees with a duty of peace. Ironically, the campaign against Tesla has only undermined the value of the collective agreement. The criticism is already being heard.
Expect more companies to be affected. LO's outgoing chairwoman Susanna Gideonsson has said that they are prepared to hold out until Tesla leaves the country, that won't happen soon. In the end, the union risks standing as the big loser.
This is a text from Dagens industri's editorial board. Today's industry is independent.

 

[rlsd]

I wonder what is more important for Swedish people now: Red Sea blockage, war with Russia, preserving the Swedish model,...?

Researchers’ Response to the Swedish War Warning

The Swedes must prepare for war, the country’s defense leadership recently stated. This is timely language, says one Norwegian researcher – while another supports Norway's sober threat communication. Such strong wording is unnecessary in Finland, notes a Finnish researcher.

www.highnorthnews.com

 

[Buckminster]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1750064105224843527

 

[CitizenKane]

I wonder what is more important for Swedish people now: Red Sea blockage, war with Russia, preserving the Swedish model,...?

Researchers’ Response to the Swedish War Warning

The Swedes must prepare for war, the country’s defense leadership recently stated. This is timely language, says one Norwegian researcher – while another supports Norway's sober threat communication. Such strong wording is unnecessary in Finland, notes a Finnish researcher.

www.highnorthnews.com

As a representative of the Swedish people I would definitely say Russian aggression is the top priority. Just the other day a large number of Swedish companies and organizations were hacked by a Russian group. The so called Swedish model is hailed as a good way of avoiding conflicts but most people hardly think about it and people with advanced jobs and university degrees are rarely directly effected by it, since those jobs are often not subject to collective agreements. The Red Sea blockage is hardly noticed among the general public, so far, in my opinion.

 

[SOULPEDL]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1750064105224843527

Is the Swedish Union Chair having a guilty moment with climate change vs "fairness"? Interesting choice of safe words, could apply to many things.

“I am happy that, together with employers and politicians, we have managed to maintain our system of collective agreements despite the EU’s requirements for minimum wages, and that we have been heard that climate change is also a trade union issue. It is about fairness, that it is not those who are worst off who have to pay the most,” Gideonsson said.​

 

[navguy12]

“I am happy that, together with employers and politicians, we have managed to maintain our system of collective agreements despite the EU’s requirements for minimum wages, and that we have been heard that climate change is also a trade union issue. It is about fairness, that it is not those who are worst off who have to pay the most,” Gideonsson said.

She is almost, in an oblique manner, channeling a notable commentator from Alberta Canada who has called renewable energy a war on poor people.

 

[heltok]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1750222485486706790

Stopped by Tesla in Jönköping earlier today, they had printed new t-shirts with the text "business as usual" Everything is going as usual, good pressure on deliveries, they now had about 40 cars on the farm which they will soon deliver to customers, they had received all the registration plates yesterday so they will mount these now during the week in order to also deliver cars to the customer, many cars were planned for delivery in the future, the salesman said.Had to ask how they deal with the waste, “no problem, you saw the trailers out there? We take it with us to the sorting farm when we go home anyway" was the answer That makes you happy to hear Two frozen souls from IF Metall stood on the other side of the street

 

[2daMoon]

Next, Tesla employees organize at each location and start bringing hot drinks and food to the protesters, and begin donating a little of their high pay to help support those poor souls stuck in the cold. Maybe set up a portable sauna for them to use to take the chill off while walking the picket line.

Would that be hilarious if Tesla made it abundantly clear the strike not only makes no difference, but, that they pity the petulant union for doing this to its members. So, offer their support, not to the union, but the people themselves.

Edit: Oh, and maybe put up a sign that says,

Tesla Employees invite you to come back to work, we have cookies!​

 

[heltok]

"Tesla-strejk riskerar bita IF Metall i svansen" - Arbetsvärlden

Håller du med om att det är lite stiltje i Tesla-strejken? – Ja, med tanke på hur stor uppmärksamhet frågan hade...

www.arbetsvarlden.se

"Tesla strike risks biting IF Metall in the tail"​

Tesla strikeWhy has there been silence about the Tesla strike? And which party benefits from it? Arbetsvärlden asked CEO and PR expert Nisha Besara, who has a background in politics and the trade union sphere, about the current situation.
Do you agree that there is a bit of a lull in the Tesla strike?
- Yes, considering how much attention the issue had a few weeks ago, it now feels as if it has disappeared from the headlines. It's hard to know what's going on.
Who wins from that?
- No one wins in a locked situation like this. The price is very high to give now for both parties.
Why is it locked?
- For Tesla, signing a collective agreement could have consequences far outside of Sweden, they have everything to gain by continuing to resist. Otherwise, there may be a requirement to sign a collective agreement in other countries, where it is not as organized as here. If you have a global policy against collective agreements, you ignore the fact that it is unique in Sweden.


- For the union, it will also be an enormous loss of prestige to shut down, because they have made it a symbol for the entire Swedish model. At the same time, IF Metall must consider that antipathy may grow against industrial action against companies that already have collective agreements, if it goes on for too long, it may backfire on IF Metall.
What needs to happen for something to happen?
- That the issue disappears from attention for a long time and that the headlines continue to be about war or something else. Then one party can back away a bit quietly so that you don't appear to be a loser.


How will it end?
- I have a hard time seeing that Tesla will change. Then it would have been done a long time ago.
- For the unions, unfortunately, it can be laughable in the end because they have really stepped in, rhetorically and with sympathy measures, and made the conflict the great symbol of the entire Swedish model. But the issue is much bigger than signing a collective agreement at a workplace with 250 employees. The Swedish model is bigger than Tesla and if the debate turns to that, it will not serve the unions.
Was it, in your opinion, a mistake to take such action from the union's point of view?
- I think you should have a better understanding of how American companies work and why you are generally against collective agreements, before you made such a big prestige issue out of this particular conflict. Because it risks biting the union movement in the tail.

 

[heltok]

Här är blockaderna mot Tesla – och så rundar Tesla dem

DN listar hur Tesla har påverkats av fackens stridsåtgärder och hur de har gjort för att runda dem.

www.dn.se

Here are the blockades against Tesla - and how Tesla gets around them​

Published at 07:10
Tesla has bypassed the unions' blockades. Photo: Jesper Frisk/TT
Ten Swedish unions participate in the conflict against Tesla. But despite blockades in a number of areas, the company has been able to continue operating.
DN lists how Tesla has been affected by the unions' industrial action and how they have done to round them off.



Blockade: IF Metall's strike includes approximately 130 car mechanics at Tesla's service workshops around the country.
Countermeasures: Only a minority of those affected are said to participate in the strike. Tesla has also put in extra strike breakers to keep operations running, according to union information.
...
Blocked: All work with Tesla cars at a large number of external workshops. Also covers painting companies via the painters' sympathy strike.
Countermeasures: In response to that, Tesla will now open its own damage repair shop in Huddinge, reports Dagens Arbete . The company wants to employ, among other things, painters, claims adjusters and sheet metal workers. The painters are now reviewing the possibilities of expanding their blockade.
...

Strike sign outside Tesla's Service Center in Segeltorp. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT
Blockade: The electricians are blocking all service work and repairs of Tesla's charging posts and electrical installations at the company's workshops.
Downside: It doesn't seem to have had any major impact. Much of the maintenance work on the charging posts is done online. Tesla has announced several new charging stations to be opened in the spring. New installations are not currently covered by the sympathy strike.
...
Blocked: Seko and ST block all delivery of mail and packages made by Postnord and Citymail to all of Tesla's workplaces. This industrial action also includes the distribution of registration plates from the Swedish Transport Agency to new Tesla cars.
Countermeasure: Tesla has found a loophole with replacement plates for the cars that are sent directly to the new owners, thus getting them registered. This is something that the Swedish Transport Agency has accepted. As for other mail, it is collected in a pile at Postnord and Citymail. It is unclear how the company is doing to get around this blockade.
...
Blockade: Transport and the Harbor Workers' Union will then stop the unloading of Tesla cars in all of Sweden's ports in November. Danish 3F Transport, the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions and the Finnish AKT are also blocking the transport of Tesla cars to Sweden.
Contradiction: Tesla now ships cars by land from Germany, according to Transport chairman Tommy Wreeth.
...

According to the union, Tesla employees have to dispose of a large part of the garbage on their own. Photo: Martina Holmberg /TT
Blocked: All waste handling at Tesla's facilities is then blocked at the end of December by Transport.
Disadvantages: The company's employees have to dispose of a large part of the garbage on their own. How they handle larger waste that cannot be sorted at recycling stations is currently unclear.
...
Blocked: Construction blocks service work and construction at Tesla service workshops.
Counterweight: Despite this, Tesla recently opened a new service center in Jönköping, as well as plans for a new repair shop in Huddinge.
...
Blockade: The real estate employees' union, which represents cleaners and property cleaners, is blocking all work at Tesla's facilities in the Stockholm area and Umeå.
Downside: According to the union, rudimentary cleaning is done by both managers and mechanics, but cleaning in the technical and professional sense is not taking place. The service centers covered by the blockade are still in operation.
Tesla has consistently declined to answer DN's questions.
Read more: Now the Tesla strike is the longest in 80 years

 

[Tiger]

As for other mail, it is collected in a pile at Postnord and Citymail. It is unclear how the company is doing to get around this blockade.
...

Most mail they can probably give "shipping address" as any alternate address addressed to "Not-a-Tesla" and Post nord won't know about it, unless they open the mail

 

[Krugerrand]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1750222485486706790

Stopped by Tesla in Jönköping earlier today, they had printed new t-shirts with the text "business as usual" Everything is going as usual, good pressure on deliveries, they now had about 40 cars on the farm which they will soon deliver to customers, they had received all the registration plates yesterday so they will mount these now during the week in order to also deliver cars to the customer, many cars were planned for delivery in the future, the salesman said.Had to ask how they deal with the waste, “no problem, you saw the trailers out there? We take it with us to the sorting farm when we go home anyway" was the answer That makes you happy to hear Two frozen souls from IF Metall stood on the other side of the street

Is The Farm in Sweden like The Train Station in Wyoming?

 

[adiggs]

Blocked: Seko and ST block all delivery of mail and packages made by Postnord and Citymail to all of Tesla's workplaces. This industrial action also includes the distribution of registration plates from the Swedish Transport Agency to new Tesla cars.

Beating a dead horse, and I know its not you @heltok ; how Swedish citizens, the Swedish government, or the Swedish legal system is allowing a private entity to interfere with the mail just blows my mind. How the mail organization isn't freaking out about the legality of private entities ordering them to interfere with the delivery of the mail, much less actually defending the right of the private entity to interfere with the mail in court, is a combination of words that I struggle to string together.

From the stuff you've reposted for us, it seems pretty clear to me that this is normalized in Sweden. I haven't seen anybody comment in any of the articles about how dangerous to society it is to interfere with the mail, especially at the behest of a private entity, and absent a search warrant. I would expect at least some level of opposition to the precedent being set, yet it just seems to be how business works.

If one entity, whatever their place in society can interfere with the mail, then the mail can legally be interfered with.


Yeah - I can see how there aren't any strikes of substance in Sweden. Knowing that the unions hold the power of functional life and death over everybody, I wouldn't want to cross them either. I also understand (at least intellectually) how hard its been to root out well organized criminal organizations in other countries in the world. At least to this outsider, IF Metall makes the most sense to me when I think of them as organized crime "selling" protection services to businesses in the country.

 

[Cobos]

Adiggs:
I think the mail issue is an American attitude where Postal system is federal and not state run. It essentially has an elevated status compared to most Nordic countries. Most everything at least in Norway is handled electronically now and even for Oslo the capital we only get mail 3 times a week. 99% of all bills I get are sent directly to my bank and everything from the state or county is sent electronically.
That said I do agree with your general sentiment.

 

[adiggs]

Adiggs:
I think the mail issue is an American attitude where Postal system is federal and not state run. It essentially has an elevated status compared to most Nordic countries. Most everything at least in Norway is handled electronically now and even for Oslo the capital we only get mail 3 times a week. 99% of all bills I get are sent directly to my bank and everything from the state or county is sent electronically.
That said I do agree with your general sentiment.

That's helpful. Mail delivery 3 days a week actually makes a lot of sense - we still get delivery every day of the week, even after we've reached the point where almost the only mail we receive is junk mail.

That being said, whether the post is state or federal run, that is still a government function. That's the part that is blowing my mind - the government is putting their thumb on the scale and not affording the rule of law to all entities. I know full well that we're not all equal before the law, but that is primarily a function of the money needed to buy excellent legal representation. The government (through their contractor Postnord) going to court to defend the right of a private entity to filter mail for some recipient is the bit that blows my mind.

I would expect the government to be involved, all guns blazing up to and including threatening Postnord with loss of contract, for manipulating the mail in this fashion. Whether it is state or federal, its still government.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

That's helpful. Mail delivery 3 days a week actually makes a lot of sense - we still get delivery every day of the week, even after we've reached the point where almost the only mail we receive is junk mail.

That being said, whether the post is state or federal run, that is still a government function. That's the part that is blowing my mind - the government is putting their thumb on the scale and not affording the rule of law to all entities. I know full well that we're not all equal before the law, but that is primarily a function of the money needed to buy excellent legal representation. The government (through their contractor Postnord) going to court to defend the right of a private entity to filter mail for some recipient is the bit that blows my mind.

I would expect the government to be involved, all guns blazing up to and including threatening Postnord with loss of contract, for manipulating the mail in this fashion. Whether it is state or federal, its still government.

Not a juridical expert, but as I understand it, one difference here between Sweden and the US is that the right to strike is protected in the Swedish constitution – as are the right to enact various sympathy actions.

This conflict is left to the two parties involved to solve. The government doesn't interfere.

In Sweden, conflicts like this one are almost always solved long before they escalate this far.