Danish union joins Swedish workers’ walkout against Tesla

There is increasing pressure on a US electric car firm to give its workers the right to collective bargaining.

The largest trade union in Denmark has joined the Swedish Tesla workers’ strike, increasing pressure on the US electric vehicle manufacturer to grant its workers the right to collective bargaining.

The six-week strike by members of the Swedish trade union IF Metall has garnered support from a variety of industries, including dock workers, painters, electricians, and postal workers, who have all started secondary action.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, hasn’t shown much sympathy thus far. He called the secondary action at PostNord “insane” at first and then started pursuing legal action against the postal service and the Swedish transport agency for not delivering license plates for new automobiles.

In response to a request from IF Metall, the Danish union 3F Transport is taking part in the “sympathy strike,” which aims to stop dock workers and drivers from collecting and carrying Tesla vehicles headed for Sweden.

For all union members, the sympathy strike applies. The news comes amid rumors that Tesla may try to ship its vehicles to Danish ports and then ship them by truck to Sweden in an effort to get around the strikes by dock workers in Sweden.

The head of 3F Transport, Jan Villadsen, expressed his hope that the action will force Tesla to engage in talks.

“RIGHT NOW, IF Metall and the Swedish workers are engaged in a very significant conflict. We naturally stand with them when they ask for our assistance. In the struggle to defend workers, the trade union movement is worldwide, just like businesses,” he stated.

“We’re taking action today to increase the pressure on Tesla in light of the sympathy strike. Naturally, we hope that they will sign a collective bargaining agreement and get around to the negotiating table as soon as possible.

Villadsen went on, perhaps criticizing Musk directly, saying, “Even if you are one of the richest people in the world, you can’t just make your own rules.” If you wish to operate a business in the Nordic region, you must abide by certain labor market agreements.

Veli-Pekka Säikkälä, contract secretary for IF Metall, expressed happiness at the news, adding, “We are happy that Danish trade unions are closing up.” Regarding whether other Nordic nations were organizing similar shows of sympathy, he would not say.

The main private sector union in Norway, Fellesforbundet, has previously stated that it would be willing to prevent Swedish Teslas from entering the nation.