This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on November 27th, 2023. This piece was translated from Swedish by Claude. Some phrasing may differ from a human translation.
Two realities collide as Tesla sues the Swedish state. The American challenger is used to going its own way — and is unlikely to yield even to Sweden’s powerful unions.
A three-metre inflatable rat is standing on a pavement in San Francisco. It looks, to say the least, unpleasant — but people walk past as if nothing has happened. They have probably seen it many times before.
It goes by the name “Scabby the Rat.” And it is one of the methods American unions use to apply pressure on employers during disputes.
“Scabs” is the term for those who are strikebreakers, or who otherwise find ways around the union to keep working during a labour dispute. The rat is placed outside the employer to attract attention.
The image of an inflatable, bad-tempered rat as a negotiating tool may be useful to keep in mind when trying to understand why American Tesla has decided to sue the Swedish state. They are well used to union disputes.
According to Dagens industri, Tesla has sued the Swedish Transport Agency over its logistics provider PostNord withholding number plates for their vehicles — a solidarity action in the ongoing dispute over collective agreements between Tesla and the unions. PostNord itself is also being sued.
The court filing states that “through this unprecedented conduct, the Transport Agency has become a deeply damaging instrument in the labour market conflict.”
On Monday afternoon, Norrköping District Court ruled that the Transport Agency must hand over the number plates to Tesla.
In the US, the charged atmosphere between unions and employers is almost standard. Two weeks ago it nearly came to blows in the American Congress. Republican senator Markwayne Mullin challenged Sean O’Brien, head of the Teamsters union, to a fistfight in the middle of a hearing. Bernie Sanders, chairing the session, had to step in and intervene. Labour disputes certainly happen in Sweden too, but they do not usually end with threats of a brawl in the Riksdag.
When Tesla looks at this Swedish union conflict from the other side of the Atlantic, that is the context they have in mind.
Several tech giants have opposed unionisation, including Apple, which actively worked to prevent its retail employees from joining unions. Silicon Valley has historically been very sceptical of trade unions, pointing among other things to the already generous working conditions on offer.
Tesla is a kind of hybrid in this context. In many respects it is a tech company — with investments in self-driving cars, AI, and an advanced service layer for its vehicles. At the same time, it is an industrial player that builds cars in factories. It is the only car manufacturer in the US with no form of union representation whatsoever. The aversion to unions is therefore not something specific to Sweden.
Is Tesla unfamiliar with the Swedish model and the unions’ strong position? More likely, they simply refuse to play by its rules. On home ground in the US, they have held out against the powerful United Auto Workers (UAW) for years. And if you can handle that — surely you can take on the equivalent in a small Scandinavian country?
When it comes to lawsuits, Tesla is well practised. They are currently party to over 1,770 ongoing cases. It is a company whose challenger mentality runs deep through its culture. Being contrarian and questioning established truths is how Tesla has made its way in the enormous car industry.
You could think of it as a tech company that learned to make cars faster than car companies could learn about tech. In many respects, they got it right. Tesla’s success has undeniably accelerated the electrification of the car world.
Given the challenges Tesla has taken on so far, there is little to suggest they will yield to union demands any time soon.
Tesla’s method — in everything — is to challenge and question the establishment. They have already broken the car industry’s dependence on fossil fuels. If one were to hazard a guess, the conflict with Sweden’s unions probably looks fairly trivial by comparison.
