The sky was gray and the air raw when the IF Metall strikers pitched their tent outside Tesla’s workshop in Upplands Väsby.
– You must have dressed warmly by now, says Stefan Leding, chief ombudsman at IF Metall’s division in Stockholm County, to his colleagues.
For more than five years, IF Metall has demanded to be allowed to sign a collective agreement for employees at Tesla workshops in Sweden, but the company has flatly refused.
Today, Friday, the union began a strike in all Tesla workshops to pressure the demand.
A message was sent from Tesla yesterday.
Locked mode
The situation is as closed as possible. When IF Mittal met with Tesla managers in the Nordic countries under the leadership of mediator Kurt Erickson on Tuesday, the managers’ message was simple: “We are not allowed to sign collective agreements, it is a global policy. As long as Tesla management in Los Angeles does not decide otherwise, There is nothing to discuss.”
Tesla is not just a company, it is the most valuable car company in the world. Is this how you get rich – by competing on lower terms than the terms of a collective agreement? asks IF Metall Contracts Secretary Velli-Pekka Säikkälä.
-If Tesla does not sign an agreement, it will be difficult for us to demand agreements from other car companies. They don’t want to compete with someone who has worse conditions for their employees.
“The Swedish model is at stake”
Stefan Leding, who is in charge of guarding the picket outside the Tesla facility in Uplands Vasby, north of Stockholm, says:
The Swedish model is at stake. Should we allow unions to negotiate agreements, or allow agreements to be replaced by legislation?
Matthias Paske, Matthias Stegerud, Morgan Englund and Stefan Leding from IF Metall’s Stockholm division are on strike outside Tesla’s workshop in Väsby in Uppland. “We have testimony that Tesla is putting its employees to work,” says Stefan Leding.
IF Metall has members among the auto mechanics at Tesla workshops, including the one in Upplands Väsby, but how many IF Metall does not want to disclose.
Many of them are still working
During Friday morning, many car mechanics – or service technicians as they are also called – sneak into the workplace in Upplands Väsby. Most of them don’t want to talk to Arbitit, but one of them, Patrick Broman, is happy to give his view on the strike:
-It’s unnecessary. I don’t think we get better wages through a collective agreement. We are above the minimum wage in the agreement, but if Tesla signs an agreement, I think we will get the minimum wage.
According to Stefan Leding, average salaries at Tesla are lower than the average at other car service companies. Patrick Broman is skeptical about this mission.
– We have received testimony that Tesla is hiring its employees so that they work as usual, says Stefan Leding.
“Continue as usual”
According to Patrick Broman, Tesla told its employees that “we are business as usual.” But union members also have the right to strike.
Patrick Broman believes the strike is “unnecessary” and came to work as usual on Friday morning. “Tesla said it was business as usual, and that they would move employees here from another workshop if necessary,” Patrick Broman says.
Tesla has sent customers a message that workshops are “still available.”
Tesla plans to replace the striking service technicians with others, something Dagens Arbete was first to report.
Some service technicians move between workshops even in normal cases. But if Tesla organizes a strike, IF Metal is ready to escalate the conflict.
– After the meeting with Tesla on Tuesday, we put a notice against all car workshops in Sweden that are licensed and have the right to repair Tesla cars, says Veli-Pekka Säikkälä.
-If Tesla organizes a strike, it will be completely unique. This is what employers were doing in the 1920s and 1930s, but they refrained from doing it with Saltsjöbadsavtalet in 1938. Then not only will the LO unions not support us, but the trade unions will also be damned.
The business has sought comment from Tesla’s press service.
Strike in all workshops
The strike includes Tesla’s own workshops. These centers are located in Umeå, Uppsala, Stockholm, Uplands Vasby, Örebro, Norrköping, Gothenburg and Malmö.
The extended IF Metall notice goes into effect on November 3 and covers all workshops authorized to do business with Tesla. The notice applies to Tesla cars only, while cars of other brands can be repaired as usual.
IF Metall has members in Tesla’s workshops but no labor union.
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