Swedish union pissed off because Tesla is still thriving despite strike: “It’s bullsh*t”

By Simon Alvarez

Posted on December 10, 2024

Swedish union IF Metal and its allies’ strike against Tesla Sweden has already been going on for over a year. But despite the unions’ efforts to block Tesla’s operations, the electric vehicle maker is proving to be extremely resilient.

This has resulted in union officials getting very upset at Tesla Sweden’s stubbornness. After all, Tesla is not just getting around the unions’ blockades and strikes—the company seems to be heading towards a stellar year with the number of vehicles it will sell in Sweden this 2024, as noted in a CarUp report.

The situation:

Since November 7 of last year, the Transport union’s sympathy strike has prohibited dock workers from loading or unloading Tesla cars at Trelleborg, Sweden’s southernmost port.
However, Tesla has found a workaround, bringing cars in via ferry from Rostock, Germany, and occasionally Swinoujscie, Poland.
Today, thousands of Tesla cars continue to arrive annually through Trelleborg, even with the unions’ blockade in place.
Tesla simply transports its vehicles using truck drivers directly from the ferries. This effectively bypasses direct handling by dock workers who are part of the blockade, as noted in a report from Dagens Arbete.
IF Metall and the Transport union are considering blocking ferry traffic altogether for Tesla’s electric vehicles, but they are constrained by maritime regulations.

What they’re saying:

Jörgen Wärja, local chairman of Transport in Trelleborg, expressed his frustration at Tesla Sweden.
“I think it is totally reprehensible. It’s bullshit. We would have liked to see that not a single Tesla came here,” Wärja said.
Anders Gustafsson, Ombudsman for Transport’s port agreement, argues that the strikes are affecting Tesla, at least to some degree.
“It works at full power. There is no dock worker in all of Sweden who touches a Tesla. So the blockade works. This is not an optimal way to ship cars. This is how our blockade works. Tesla can’t get their cars in the usual way and it’s clear that it slows things down tremendously for them,” Gustafsson said.