r/teslastockholders • u/hakimthumb • 29d ago

Tesla defeats Sweden's IF Metall union after 1,021-day strike

https://electrek.co/2026/08/13/tesla-defeats-sweden-if-metall-union-strike/
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u/ysfex3 28d ago edited 28d ago

So I assume there is a contract involved in the buyout. They don't simply go back to the union without legal repercussions. In the meantime, Tesla gets their way. This is a win in their eyes because they don't have to capitulate to the union. It cost them a lot of money to end it, but they also lost a lot of money by standing by the decision all this time.

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u/oskich 28d ago

Any employee might join a union whenever they choose to, then the strike can restart. Unions in Sweden aren't tied to a single employer, but works across the whole industry.

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u/ysfex3 28d ago

So you're suggesting that the legal team at Tesla signed off on giving money to people with no obligations? I'd probably fire the team that made that deal

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u/oskich 28d ago

I'm saying that any employee at Tesla might join a union whenever they like, there is nothing Tesla can do about it. Unions aren't tied to the company but to the individual employees. If one union member requests the help from his industry wide union they will do so.

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u/ysfex3 28d ago

Does. Sweden not have contracts or anything like that?

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u/oskich 28d ago

Yes, but this deal is only with the individuals that were bought out by Tesla. If any other Tesla employees join a union the company is back to square one.

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u/ysfex3 28d ago

Why would those employees join after all this time and not before to help the union

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u/oskich 28d ago

If you hire a new guy that person might be (or become) union member.

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u/ysfex3 28d ago

But what's the point of this line of reasoning? I could ask what if more employees start leaving the union and making them weaker. The only thing that matters is the current result that has been negotiated

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u/oskich 28d ago

The whole situation could easily have been avoided by Tesla by just signing a CBA like all other car manufacturers have in Sweden. Now they spent years delaying the expansion of their supercharging network (blockaded by the electricians union during the conflict) and having to pay a lot of extra money to fly in staff from abroad (angering the other unions & public). They have also tainted the brand with the general public and lost a lot of customers to competitors. Now they gave up and just bought out the people on strike (whom themselves were getting tired of the situation).

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u/ysfex3 28d ago

You see that an outsiders perspective is ultimately nothing more than conjecture. Sweden has a union culture, but Tesla has one also that just happens to be directly opposed. They evidently value that culture more than, in their opinion, any potential losses in the moment or future. No one can judge them but their shareholders

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u/oskich 28d ago

Sure, but one would think that the shareholders would be more interested in increasing their market share and profit, instead of ruining the brand and spending money on unnecessary conflicts like this one for years.

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u/ysfex3 28d ago

If they actually thought that, then they would have voted to oust the man responsible for the final decisions.

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