The 24 are called strike breakers in the Swedish trade union press.
The personnel have been brought in a total of 41 times since February this year and come from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Great Britain and Austria – as well as Norway.
It is Today’s Work who have found the cases via documents at the Arbetsmiljöverket, equivalent to the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority.
The news site writes that something like this has not happened since the interwar period.
The 24 have worked at Tesla workshops in Malmö, Uppsala and Umeå.
See more Tesla cases here:
Owl set
– This is a threat to the Swedish model, says Adis Heldic, ombudsman for the trade union IF Metall in South-East Scania.
Strike-breaking is generally frowned upon, but not illegal – neither in Sweden nor Norway.
Dagens Arbete also writes that Tesla’s temporary import of labor is in line with EU rules for so-called secondment. There, the requirement is limited time periods with start and end dates, plus that the working relationship be reported to the Swedish Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The strike has been going on since 27 October last year and is about Tesla’s refusal to enter into collective agreements.
Relief … and tightening
In the early days, escalations were regularly reported, particularly through sympathy actions, also international. In December, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions adopted a boycott targeting the transport of cars to the Swedish market. Similar messages have come from both Finland and Denmark.
In Sweden, IF Metall granted a dispensation for the repair of Teslas that are not drivable, from 19 February to 30 April. But only at non-Tesla workshops.
On May 1, the union eased the sanctions and allowed Tesla workshops to repair cars again. The reason was that many cars were sent to other workshops without collective agreements.
But just two days later, a new player came on the scene, when Sweden’s largest trade union, Unionen, announced a halt to all inspections of the Tesla workshops’ equipment. This action will take effect on May 14, if the conflict persists.
And it does, by all accounts.
You can read more about the strike here.
