Strategy And Planning

Swedish union ends nearly three-year Tesla strike

August 14, 2026
www.ETHRWorld.com
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  • Published On Aug 14, 2026 at 05:42 PM IST

IF Metall said it was officially ending all labour action against Tesla as of August 19 />Sweden’s metalworkers’ union <a id=” captionrendered=”1″ data-src=”https://etimg.etb2bimg.com/photo/133241200.cms” height=”442″ href=”http://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/if+metall” keywordseo=”IF-Metall” loading=”eager” meta.entityname=”IF Metall” meta.hostid=”412″ meta.keywordsubtype=”org” source=”keywords” src=”https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/images/default.jpg” type=”Denny” weightage=”20″ width=”590″></img>IF Metall said Thursday they were ending their strike against Tesla, originally launched in October 2023, saying the US carmaker had bought out all of the union’s striking members.</p> <p>The strike was launched on October 27, 2023, when mechanics at 10 Tesla repair shops in seven cities walked off the job over Tesla’s refusal to sign a collective agreement with the metalworkers’ union IF Metall.</p> <p>“I can conclude that Tesla are such strong opponents of collective agreements that they would rather buy out employees who are union members than give them secure working conditions,” Simon Petersson, negotiating secretary at IF Metall, said in a statement.</p> <p>IF Metall said it was officially ending all labour action against Tesla as of August 19.</p> <p>Negotiated sector by sector, collective agreements with unions form the basis of the Nordic labour market model, covering almost 90 percent of all employees in Sweden, guaranteeing wages and working conditions.</p> <p>Petersson also said Tesla’s response to the strike was “unprecedented in the Swedish labour market — just like Tesla’s systematic strikebreaking.”</p> <p>“They have used methods that have been banned in Sweden since the 1930s,” he said.</p> <p>Speaking to AFP in October 2025, Petersson conceded the strike had not had the full intended effect, accusing Tesla of using an “outdated” approach to labour disputes by hiring people in Sweden and flying staff in from abroad to circumvent the strike.</p> <p>Since it began, IF Metall had expanded the strike several times to include other third-party repair shops that service Tesla models.</p> <p>It had also grown into a larger conflict between Tesla and almost a dozen unions seeking to protect Sweden’s labour model, including postal workers delivering licence plates, dockworkers unloading imported vehicles, and even spreading to neighbouring Nordic countries.</p> <p>Despite the drawn out conflict, no agreement could be reached and the Swedish National Mediation Office said in September 2025 that it was ending attempts to mediate between the parties, telling public broadcaster Sveriges Radio they had “reached the end of the road”.</p> <p>According to trade magazine Vi Bilagare, many Tesla owners have said the impact of the strike has been minimal, and the US company continued to sell its cars throughout the period.</p> <p>Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has long rejected calls to allow the company’s over 100,000 employees worldwide to unionise.</p> <p>The company’s Swedish subsidiary argued their workers have “equivalent or better agreements” than those under collective agreements. </p> <div> <div> <ul> <li><a href=AFP

  • Published On Aug 14, 2026 at 05:42 PM IST

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