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In Sweden, around seventy automotive technicians persist to challenge one of the globe's wealthiest companies – the electric vehicle manufacturer. The industrial action at the US carmaker's 10 Swedish repair facilities has currently reached its second anniversary, and there is minimal sign of a settlement.

One striking worker has been at the electric car company's picket line since October 2023.

"It's a tough period," remarks the 39-year-old. And as Sweden's chilly seasonal conditions arrives, it's likely to become even tougher.

Janis spends every start of the week alongside a fellow worker, standing near an electric vehicle garage on an industrial park in Malmö. The labor organization, the Swedish metalworkers' union, supplies accommodation in the form of a portable construction vehicle, as well as coffee & light meals.

However it remains business as usual across the road, where the service facility seems to operate at full capacity.

The strike concerns an issue that reaches to the core of Swedish labor traditions – the authority for worker organizations to negotiate wages and working terms representing their workforce. This concept of negotiated labor contracts has supported labor dynamics in Sweden for nearly a century.

Today approximately 70% of Swedish employees are members of a trade union, while ninety percent fall under under negotiated labor contracts. Labor stoppages in Sweden are rare.

This is a system welcomed across the board. "We favor the right to negotiate freely with the unions and establish collective agreements," says a business representative from the Association of Swedish Businesses business organization.

However the electric car company has disrupted established practices. Outspoken chief executive Elon Musk has stated he "disagrees" with the idea of labor organizations. "I just don't like anything that establishes a sort of hierarchical situation," he told an audience at an event in 2023. "I think labor groups attempt to generate negativity within businesses."

Tesla came to Sweden back in the mid-2010s, and the metalworkers' union has for years sought to secure a collective agreement with the automaker.

"But they did not respond," says Marie Nilsson, the organization's leader. "We formed the belief that they tried to avoid or not discuss this with us."

She states the union eventually saw no alternative except to announce a strike, which started in late October, 2023. "Usually it's enough to issue a warning," comments the union leader. "The company usually signs the agreement."

However this did not happen on this occasion.

Janis Kuzma, who is from Latvia, began employment for Tesla in 2021. He claims that wages & conditions were often dependent on the whim of managers.

He recalls a performance review where he states he was refused an annual pay rise because he was "failing to meet company targets". Meanwhile, a coworker was reported to be turned down for a pay rise due to he had the "wrong attitude".

However, some workers participated in the industrial action. Tesla employed approximately 130 technicians employed at the time the strike was called. The union states currently around 70 of its members are participating in the action.

The automaker has long since substituted the striking workers with new workers, for which that has not occurred since the Great Depression.

"Tesla has done it [found replacement staff] openly & methodically," states German Bender, an analyst at Arena Idé, a think tank financed by Scandinavian labor organizations.

"It is not against the law, which is crucial to recognize. However it goes against all traditional practices. Yet the company shows no concern for conventions.

"They aim to be convention challengers. So if somebody informs them, listen, you are breaking a standard, they perceive this as praise."

The automaker's local division refused requests for interview via correspondence mentioning "all-time high deliveries".

Indeed, the automaker has given just a single press discussion during the entire period after the strike started.

In March 2024, the Swedish subsidiary's "national manager, Jens Stark, informed a financial publication that it suited the company more not to have a union contract, and instead "to collaborate directly with employees and give them the best possible conditions".

The executive rejected that the decision not to enter a labor contract was one made at Tesla headquarters in the US. "Our division possesses a mandate to make our own such decisions," he said.

The union is not entirely alone in this conflict. The strike has received backing by a number of labor organizations.

Port workers in nearby Scandinavian nations, Norway & neighboring states, are refusing to handle Teslas; rubbish is not collected from Tesla's Scandinavian locations; while newly built power points are not being linked to the grid across the nation.

Exists one such facility close to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, where twenty chargers stand idle. But Tibor Blomhäll, the president of enthusiasts group the Swedish Tesla association, says Tesla owners are unaffected by the strike.

"There's an alternative power point six miles from here," he comments. "And we can continue to purchase vehicles, we can maintain our vehicles, we can power our electric cars."

With consequences high for all parties, it's hard to envision an end to the deadlock. IF Metall faces the danger of establishing a pattern should it surrender the fundamental concept of negotiated labor contracts.

"The worry is how this could expand," states Mr Bender, "and eventually {erode