The strike by the car manufacturer’s employees extended to the postal sector, which caused the sending of license plates to be blocked.
The American giant Tesla, which has initiated proceedings against the Swedish state due to the refusal of postal sector employees to deliver the license plates of its new cars, obtained a first favorable decision on Monday evening.
The strike movement targeting Tesla, launched at the end of October by the metallurgical union IF Metall due to the manufacturer’s refusal to adhere to a collective agreement on wages, has since expanded to other sectors.
The postal sector joined the movement on November 20, with employees stopping deliveries to Tesla offices and repair shops.
Since license plates are only delivered by mail, the move could prevent new Teslas from circulating, which the group’s boss, Elon Musk, called “insane” Friday.
In its application to the Norrköping District Court, Tesla asks the court to require the Swedish Transport Agency to ensure that license plates “come into Tesla’s possession”.
It is also seeking a fine of one million crowns (87,000 euros) if the public agency fails to enforce a possible court decision.
The Swedish Transport Agency said Monday evening that it had received from the court a “provisional decision (..) ordering it to accept, within 7 days, that Tesla collects license plates directly from our plate manufacturer”.
“Our plate manufacturer has announced that it is ready to supply the plates directly to Tesla, provided the Swedish Transport Agency agrees”added the public agency in a message to AFP, specifying that it was assessing the consequences of this court decision.
The Swedish Transport Agency indicated last week that the sending of the plates was entrusted to the postal group Postnord, under a contract applying to all government agencies.
In another request, Tesla asks the court in Solna, a suburb of Stockholm, to force Postnord, owned by the Swedish and Danish states, to return the plates.
In addition to IF Metall, nine other unions have announced solidarity measures towards Tesla employees, such as dockworkers and construction workers.
Negotiated sector by sector, collective agreements form the basis of the Swedish labor market model. They cover almost 90% of all Swedish employees and guarantee them minimum wages and working conditions.
Although they are unionized, Tesla workers do not benefit from sectoral collective agreements because their company has not signed the agreement.
The American electric car specialist has always rejected calls for unionization among its 127,000 employees worldwide.
