In the past, Tesla’s owner, Elon Musk, has publicly threatened workers with retaliation if they were to form a union. “Elon Musk’s business model is to avoid respecting human rights. Now he is taken on by one of our strongest unions. We must defeat the Tesla business model, and Sweden is the best place to start.”
It will be interesting to watch their business model working without any workers working.
Context from a publicly funded German TV station, ZDF, retrieved from their teletext:
“We have negotiated for a long time with Tesla regarding a wage agreement – without success. No we see no way other than a strike,” says the union IF Metall.
The strike would impact 120 engineers in seven plants. Wage agreements form the basis of the Swedish labour market and cover almost 90% of employees.
Why build the plant there if they can’t conform to the work culture or provide a decent wage? That seems like an odd decision.
Musk is an idiot who likes to turn billions of dollars into a dumpster fire? I feel like we’re past the point of finding sound logic in the actions of his companies.
I feel like Americans have trouble accepting that culture is different in other places.
Out-of-touch billionaires especially!
A lot of union laws are being dismantled in sweden, but I think companies are still forced by law to sit down to negotiate. This is not a strike tesla can win.
The standoff is also one that workers must win. The force against companies in Sweden is illusory. Workers’ only real power is from the force they create themselves, and unless they use their power, it will continue to be eroded.
Which union laws have been dismantled?
The conditions under which it is legal for a union to strike were restricted in 2019 https://www.arbetaren.se/2019/02/15/inskrankt-strejkratt-redan-i-sommar/
Explain me something: in my country, every union is nation wide, with links to every workplace where a unionized worker is employed.
Why do I get the notion on other countries this is not the same?
In my country the unions are also nation wide, but the rules/benefits they negotiate are sector wide. You can also have multiple unions that work for your sector
For example if you start a new supermarket the employees automatically have all the rules and benefits negotiated by unions for the supermarket sector
Exactly.
Most of what I read here gives me the understanding that the unions are confined from company to company and whatever agreements reached only act for company X and none else.
That has got to be the most insulting response I’ve ever seen from a company to a strike threat. Fuck Elon and Fuck Tesla…
Negotiations not in their business model? Hmmm, I wonder what their plan is to run a factory completely without workers then.
