The Swedish union IF Metall continues to put pressure on Tesla, trying to force it to sign a collective agreement. In the struggle for influence, IF Metall harms consumers in the country, clients, and employees of the company.
Tesla employees in Sweden continue to speak out against IF Metall and its practices. A technician who works for the company spoke to Ekot on condition of anonymity.
They said they were “disappointed in the union” and were generally critical of the union’s struggle for a collective agreement. The employee said they preferred to continue working despite the strike, as IF Metall’s statements about Tesla did not reflect the situation at all.
“If I didn’t like my job, if it was as toxic as they describe, I would change this job,” they said.
The technician does not support the union’s demand for a collective agreement. They believe that the conditions they currently have are good. The Tesla employee had previously been a union member for 10 years but decided to leave shortly before the strike began in October. They said that IF Metall did not even ask the company employees to find out whether they were satisfied with their working conditions. Instead, the union simply asked for their demands to be met.
“They didn’t ask us how we were. I think if you start such a big conflict, you should have asked that question. The union came to us several times but never asked questions about how we were doing. They only asked us to sign and turned away when they received a refusal. I felt betrayed,” they said.
IF Metall does not admit that it had no dialogue with Tesla employees before the strike. Most local media reports events in a way that makes the company look bad. The coordinated work of the trade union, the media, and government organizations create a negative image of Tesla in front of society.
IF Metall’s fight against Tesla is driven by a fear of losing influence in Sweden, and not, as they claim, by a desire to help the company’s employees. This is not the first time Tesla employees have spoken out against the strike. However, they prefer to hide their identities because they fear retribution from IF Metall, according to them.
