Tesla faces Scandi revolt as Danes join Swedish strike

Tesla Scandinavia faces a growing backlash after Danish dockworkers joined Swedish machinists on a sympathy strike, putting pressure on the electric car giant to give workers collective bargaining rights.

Members of the Swedish union IF Metall have been at war with Tesla for six weeks, and through a second strike action have gained support from Swedish workers in various industries, including postal workers, painters, dockworkers and electricians.

Tesla CEO Musk lament The actions of postal workers blocking license plate deliveries were deemed “crazy” and a lawsuit was filed against the Swedish Transport Agency and the postal service late last month.

After Swedish dockworkers blocked Tesla cars from entering the country, there was speculation that Tesla would seek to ship the cars to a Danish port and then truck them to Sweden.

However, IF Metall asked for support from Denmark’s largest union, which announced a sympathy strike on Tuesday.

Jan Villadsen, president of Denmark’s 3F transport union, said on Tuesday that IF Metall and Swedish workers were “fighting an extremely important battle” and therefore had the union’s full support.

“Just like companies, the union movement is global in the fight to protect workers. With the sympathy strike, we are stepping in now to put further pressure on Tesla,” Villarson said in a statement.

“Of course we want them to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible and sign a collective agreement.”

In what seemed like a direct attack on Musk, Villason added, “Even if you’re one of the richest people in the world, you can’t just make your own rules.”

“We have some labor market agreements in the Nordic region and if you want to do business here you have to abide by them,” he said.

“Solidarity is a cornerstone of the trade union movement and cuts across national borders. So we are now using the tools at our disposal to secure collective agreements and fair working conditions.”

All members of 3F Transport are affected by the sympathy conflict, which means dockworkers and drivers will not receive and transport Tesla vehicles to Sweden.

Industrial relations in Sweden are shaped by a series of agreements struck throughout the 20th century, meaning that almost all pay is governed by collective agreements between companies and unions, without any government intervention.

Tesla has so far refused to sign one of the collective bargaining agreements, leading about 120 mechanics in Sweden to launch strike action in late October.

The striking workers are not asking for a raise, but just hope Tesla can abide by collective bargaining principles. The dispute highlights the potential for an ongoing ideological standoff not just between Tesla and the 120 mechanics, but also between American corporate power and the deep-rooted principles underpinning the Scandinavian economic model.

Expanding the solidarity strike to Denmark could pose further problems for Musk, as there are risks of similar solidarity actions in Norway and Germany, where collective agreements are also a key principle of industrial relations.

IF Metall told CNBC on Tuesday that there are currently no ongoing negotiations with Tesla but hopes the U.S. giant will “get back to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”

“We are confident that they will eventually realize that the collective agreement also benefits them. We are prepared for a protracted conflict, but we hope that a solution can be found quickly,” the union said.