(MENAFN) In Sweden, a small group of car mechanics is locked in a prolonged labor dispute with Tesla, one of the world’s wealthiest companies. The strike, now entering its second year, involves about 70 workers at the US automaker’s ten Swedish service centres and shows little sign of ending.

Janis Kuzma, 39, has been on the picket line since October 2023. “It's a tough time,” he admits, bracing for the approaching Swedish winter. Each Monday, he and a colleague stand outside a Tesla garage in Malmö, supported by their union IF Metall, which provides a mobile van for shelter and supplies of coffee and sandwiches. Meanwhile, operations inside the workshop continue uninterrupted.

At the heart of the dispute is the right of trade unions in Sweden to negotiate pay and conditions—a principle known as the collective agreement, foundational to the nation’s industrial relations for nearly a century. Today, roughly 70% of Swedish workers belong to a union, with 90% covered by collective agreements. Strikes are uncommon.

Tesla’s approach clashes with this tradition. CEO Elon Musk has openly criticized unions, saying in 2023, “I just don't like anything which creates a kind of lords and peasants sort of thing. I think the unions try to create negativity in a company.”

Tesla entered Sweden in 2014, and IF Metall has long sought a collective agreement. “But they wouldn't respond,” says union president Marie Nilsson. “And we got the impression that they tried to hide away or not discuss this with us.” With no other options, the union called a strike on 27 October 2023. “Usually it's enough to make the threat,” Nilsson adds, “The company usually signs the agreement. But not in this case.”

Kuzma, originally from Latvia and employed by Tesla since 2021, reports inconsistent pay and conditions, often at the discretion of managers. He recalls being denied a pay rise due to “not reaching Tesla’s goals,” while a colleague was refused for having the “wrong attitude.”

Of the approximately 130 mechanics at the time, only around 70 remain on strike. Tesla has replaced striking workers—a practice rare in Sweden since the 1930s. “Tesla has done it [found replacement staff] openly and systematically,” notes Arena Idé researcher German Bender. “It's not illegal, which is important to understand. But it goes against all established norms. But Tesla doesn't care about norms. They want to be norm breakers. So if somebody tells them, hey, you are breaking a norm, they see that as a compliment.”

Requests for comment from Tesla’s Swedish subsidiary, TM Sweden, were declined. In March 2024, TM Sweden’s country lead Jens Stark said it was preferable not to have a collective agreement, instead working closely with staff to “give them the best possible conditions,” denying that the decision was directed from Tesla’s US headquarters.

The strike has drawn wider solidarity. Dockworkers in Denmark, Norway, and Finland refuse to handle Teslas, waste collection at Swedish Tesla facilities has stopped, and new charging stations remain unconnected. At a station near Stockholm Arlanda Airport, 20 chargers are idle.

Yet Tesla owners report little disruption, as alternative stations are nearby.

The stand-off continues, with high stakes for both sides. IF Metall risks weakening the Swedish labor model if it backs down, while Tesla may fear that conceding in Sweden could empower union efforts in its US and German plants. Bender notes, “Elon Musk doesn't want to be sort of told how to do things. And I think he doesn't view the industrial action that the union has taken as an invitation to negotiate, but rather as an ultimatum to sign a dotted line that he doesn't want to sign.”

Tibor Blomhäll of Tesla Club Sweden predicts a long conflict: “This will be another Korean War. A conflict that just drags on.”

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