Tesla’s rise in Sweden’s electric vehicle (EV) market continues to frustrate Swedish unions as labour strikes and blockades have had little impact on the company’s operations, and its sales.
The conflict between Tesla and Swedish unions, led by IF Metall and the Transport union, has been going on for over a year. Over the course of that time, unions have enforced various measures, including a strict blockade at Trelleborg, Sweden’s southernmost port, preventing dock workers from loading or unloading new Tesla vehicles.
Despite these measures, Tesla’s vehicles have been flooding into Sweden, with 20,000 units delivered this year alone. The atuomaker has been able to accomplish this by employing an alternative strategy – using regular ferries that transport cars directly from Germany and Poland to Trellebor, rather than relying on traditional car ferries requiring dockworker involvement.
Local union leaders, such as Jörgen Wärja, chairman of Transport in Trelleborg, have expressed frustration with Tesla’s tactics.
“It’s crap. We would have liked not to see a single Tesla come here,” Wärja said in an interview with CarUp. Yet, despite the unions’ best efforts, Tesla’s workaround has ensured a steady influx of vehicles, sometimes with up to 15 transport trucks arriving daily.
The unions acknowledge Tesla’s ingenuity but argue that the blockade has had some impact. Anders Gustafsson, Ombudsman for Transport’s port agreement, saying, “There is no dock worker in all of Sweden who touches a Tesla. So the blockade works. Tesla can’t get their cars in the usual way, and it’s clear that it slows things down tremendously for them.” (via Teslarati)
However, the unions’ frustration is evident. Discussions about blocking ferry traffic altogether have surfaced, but maritime regulations complicate such actions. As it stands, Tesla’s direct ferry-to-truck operation remains within legal bounds, leaving unions scrambling for more effective measures.
Despite the labour conflict, Tesla is poised to achieve a record-breaking year in Sweden’s EV market. The company’s ability to adapt and innovate has not only kept its operations afloat but also propelled its growth. While unions attempt to play down Tesla’s tactics, the automaker continues to think outside the bounds of what a typical car company would do.
