“I’m a little worried” – Action

It’s been a month now since Tobias Inge Strömberg left his job as a technician at the Tesla Center in Hessingen in Gothenburg to go on strike.

Although he became a bit nervous and anxious about the future when the strike notice was given, he saw participating in the strike as normal. He says he is in the union.

– Basically it is about Sweden and the Swedish model. But concretely, it’s about safety and security. If we get a collective agreement, we know what conditions and obligations we have. Truth must be true.

For many co-workers, the strike was not obvious. Tobias Inge Strömberg does not want to say anything about the large scale of the strike by employees at his center, but he says that in any case, it is “a group of technicians”, like himself, who are involved in the struggle.

“A lot depends on Tesla”

He adds that there are many new Tesla employees in Sweden who depend on the job for their future here.

Others have family in the countries they come from and want to get a job at Tesla there in the future, so they don’t dare clash with their employer.

-Some have a stronger dependency. I can understand that they don’t want to strike. But of course some are loyal to Tesla too.

Tobias Inge Strömberg is not a union activist, and there was no union club in the workplace. But he is interested in union issues.

He still does not see that not everyone participating in the strike is a big problem. This did not lead to conflicts between colleagues, but the work atmosphere was good until the strike broke out.

– It was quiet and respectful at my workplace.

Technicians travel all over the country

There has been talk of Tesla bringing in foreign workers to cover the strikers, which the union considers to be a strikebreaker.

If this happened in Hessingen, Tobias Inge Strömberg is not aware of it.

– But I know that colleagues who did not participate in the strike went a little everywhere and worked where they were needed, like Malmö and Umeå.

There was also testimony from elsewhere about strikers being threatened with retaliation in the form of worse holiday times and other conditions.

No such threats were made against the strikers in Gothenburg, as far as Tobias Inge-Stromberg knew.

According to Arbetet’s information, all employees were told that they would be exposed to worse conditions if they received a collective agreement.

Before the strike, Tesla’s Swedish manager reportedly held meetings with employees where he discussed the conditions they already had and what awaited them under the collective agreement.

“He explicitly said we would get worse.”

– He explained that if Tesla agrees to a collective agreement, the agreement’s floor will be the one that applies. We get the lows. He explicitly said the situation would get worse, says a Tesla employee who wishes to remain anonymous.

Tobias Inge Strömberg does not want to comment on the information employees received about the collective agreement from Tesla, but he says there are concerns that the strike could deteriorate.

– I’m a little worried, that’s all. You know Tesla is not positive about collective agreements. They shouldn’t tell us who is going on strike in retaliation, but at the same time you don’t really know what Tesla is going for in these contexts.

Tobias Inge Strömberg points out that some conditions would also be better in the event of a collective agreement.

He says employees at Tesla are not entitled to reduced hours, a part-time pension or a full pension. Even if compensation at Tesla is better than the minimum in the collective agreement, compensation is not always paid.

– I heard that many people work overtime without compensation. They want to show loyalty and willingness to work, and to stand up for Tesla. Under collective agreements, it becomes clear what applies

Although it was clear for him to participate in the strike, Tobias Inge Strömberg hopes it will end soon. He started at Tesla right after he finished his technical training and worked there for five years.

-I love my job. The way we work with cars and colleagues. I don’t see much of a problem with returning after a raid, and I hope others don’t either.

He dared not guess how long it would be before that happened.

– It’s not certain. I hope to find a solution quickly, but I think it will take some time to find a solution that Tesla can accept.

The work was applied to Tesla without receiving a response.