Tesla Unionization

[unionbustin]

"In the light of the conflict now spreading to Denmark as well as Tesla's recent very categorical refusal to enter a labour union agreement in any country, we have come to the conclusion that we as investors at present hardly can influence the company," the pension fund said in an emailed statement.


"That is why we're now putting Tesla on our exclusion list," it said.

PensionDanmark, which manages pensions for 823,000 Danes, has 317.3 billion Danish crowns ($45.81 billion) under asset management.

The fund did not say how big its holdings in Tesla are.

 

[Todd Burch]

Bob Iger, is that you?

 

[heltok]

IF Metall's contract secretary Veli-PekkaSäikkälä does not agree that Hydro Extrusions has been undeservedly drawn into the conflict:
- Hydro has chosen to do business with a company that does not have a collective agreement and thus takes a conscious risk. We are not acting against Tesla in Sweden, but against the American group and its opportunities to do business.

So there we have it, it's a conflict with Tesla, not Tesla Sweden. And if Norway's unions joins this sympathy strike against Tesla and they are giving their full support we will soon see what that means. Imo Tesla should look into all their Norwegian suppliers and see which one have collective agreement and consider that Berlin might soon need new suppliers for those things.

”Vi har fått minska antalet anställda” - hufvudstadsbladet

OM Metall inledde sin strejk den 27 oktober är målet att få till ett kollektivavtal för 130 mekaniker i Sverige – det skulle bli en första i världen för

hufvudstadsbladet.se

"We have had to reduce the number of employees"​

By hufvudstadsbladet / December 6, 2023

The company is owned by the Norwegian giant Hydro and has 850 employees in Vetlanda and Finspång. They manufacture customized aluminum profiles in all sizes and for everything from the construction industry to trains. One of the customers is Tesla, but those deliveries have been stopped for almost two weeks. A consequence of IF metall's ongoing conflict with the electric car giant.
- It has affected us from day one in that we lose revenue and that in an already strained economic time. But the concern for the future is greater. Aluminum parts for electric cars is a strongly growing market, and if the strike continues for a longer period of time, it may reduce the confidence of Swedish suppliers. Then other suppliers take over, says Jonas Bjuhr, CEO of Hydro Extrusions Sweden.

How many employees are covered by not being allowed to handle Tesla goods?
- About 20, above all in Vetlanda, and we have so far been able to move them to other departments. But if it goes on for a longer period of time, there is an absolute risk of redundancies, we have already received permission to reduce the number of employees.

Hydro Extrusions manufactures components for the Tesla model Y, which is manufactured in the factory outside Berlin and which is Sweden's best-selling car this year.

Photo: Terje Pedersen
Information from both trade unions and motoring magazines says that the component manufactured in Vetlanda is necessary for the crash protection of the Tesla Y model, which is manufactured in the factory outside Berlin and which is Sweden's best-selling car this year.
- We do not comment on what or to whom we sell, but at the moment it is difficult not to confirm that we have Tesla as a customer, says Jonas Bjuhr.
You have a collective agreement yourself, why is that good?
- It's about collaboration, that's the core of the Swedish model. This applies both at central level and locally. You get close to each other and can work together to develop the business. It has worked very well for us.
Jonas Bjuhr does not want to comment on the conflict itself, but states that sympathy measures are a permissible measure:
- The bigger question here is what proportions a conflict should be able to take, that is something that should be discussed, he says.

DN has previously reported that employers in the car industry consider it unfair that workshops with collective agreements should be affected by IF Metall's strike and that both the Confederation of Swedish Industry and the three government parties want to shrink the possibilities for sympathy measures.
IF Metall's contract secretary Veli-PekkaSäikkälä does not agree that Hydro Extrusions has been undeservedly drawn into the conflict:
- Hydro has chosen to do business with a company that does not have a collective agreement and thus takes a conscious risk. We are not acting against Tesla in Sweden, but against the American group and its opportunities to do business.
He continues:
- We do not strike blindly with our sympathy measures, but have surgically targeted Tesla's factory in Berlin, which is dependent on supplies from Hydro Extrusions. This is a way to increase the pressure on Tesla.

Facts. Tesla against Sweden for six weeks​

Tesla is a world-leading manufacturer of electric cars, with factories in the USA, China and Germany and with nearly 130,000 employees. The company is led by the staunchly anti-union Elon Musk. The factory outside Berlin produces the Tesla model Y, which is Sweden's best-selling car this year.

IF Metall started its strike on October 27, the goal is to get a collective agreement for 130 mechanics in Sweden - it would be a first in the world for Tesla. Several negotiations with the subsidiary TM Sweden had then failed.
The conflict then expanded to other workshops servicing Tesla and to a blockade at aluminum profile maker Hydro Extrusions. The strike has also been followed by a series of sympathy measures:
Transport and the Port Workers' Union stop the unloading of Tesla cars in Swedish ports, Electricians do not fix charging posts, Property members do not clean the company's premises, Painters do not paint the cars and Byggnads do not build.
Seko's and ST's blockade of mail to and from Tesla has led to the company suing both the Swedish Transport Agency and Postnord. This week, Danish and Norwegian unions have announced sympathy measures.

 

[MP3Mike]

The count of striking employees is up to 12, almost all from one location. And the strikers say Tesla pays significantly more than the agreement requires.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1732557287296733511

 

[2daMoon]

It will be a shame if IF Metall's power-mongering results in employees of Norwegian suppliers losing their livelihood.

I guess Tesla will source those parts elsewhere easily enough, considering the same parts sourced elsewhere must go into the cars built in the other factories. This should be a boon to those suppliers in the US and China until another EU source is arranged.

 

[Krugerrand]

It will be a shame if IF Metall's power-mongering results in employees of Norwegian suppliers losing their livelihood.

I guess Tesla will source those parts elsewhere easily enough, considering the same parts sourced elsewhere must go into the cars built in the other factories. This should be a boon to those suppliers in the US and China until another EU source is arranged.

The more it hurts, the sooner people and businesses will see the flaw in the system, and realize what a scam the union was in the first place and put them out of business.

Just another business segment Tesla is flipping on its head. Come into the 21st century or die.

I say again, IF Metall has failed to take the opportunity presented to innovate and make themselves relevant.

 

[BioSehnsucht]

Sure, really, how does a union dare to have a war chest that enables them to stand up to the employers? Better for the employers to have another billion.
Obviously there is a culture gap here.
From a European perspective working conditions in the US are crap. Vacation time, sick days, health insurance, employment safety, maternity leave, are all completely substandard by the standards of most industrial countries.
The wealth disparity in the US is obscene, but this is all supposedly compensated by a tiny number of employees who strike gold because they have received shares at the right time (that doesn't apply to the Swedish employees anyway). Whatever, you may fo in the US whatever you like, just don't try to export that culture to Europe.
Finally, just stop trying to sell "pedo guy" bully and chum of China's internet censor Musk as some kind of benefactor of humanity.

Sure a union would need some kind of war chest, but does it need 1B? They're sure not using it to help everyone they're impacting, only a few.

No, it's not better that the corporations have that 1B, but that's not where it came from, it came from Union members, and that's who should have that money.

 

[Krugerrand]

Sure a union would need some kind of war chest, but does it need 1B? They're sure not using it to help everyone they're impacting, only a few.

No, it's not better that the corporations have that 1B, but that's not where it came from, it came from Union members, and that's who should have that money.

I think some of that money does come from the companies as well, if I understood some earlier posts. Both employees and employers pay fees.

 

[BioSehnsucht]

I think some of that money does come from the companies as well, if I understood some earlier posts. Both employees and employers pay fees.

I assumed the employers were paying into the employer unions not employee unions, are they also paying part of the employees due, or are they required to directly fund the employee union?

Either way I would consider union dues for employees to be part of compensation, so I would credit them to the employee rather than employer.

But if the employer is also paying into the employee union directly on a non-per-employee basis, then yes, I'd say that money should be attributed to the employer itself, same as paying into employer union.

 

[heltok]

The centrist party in Sweden(not in the government, normally allied with the social democrat have commented):

Sympatistrejkerna mot Tesla har gått för långt

Centerpartiet: Reglerna måste ändras när oskyldiga företag drabbas

www.aftonbladet.se

The sympathy strikes against Tesla have gone too far​

The Center Party: The rules must be changed when innocent companies are affected​

This is a debate article. It is the writer who stands for the opinions presented in the text, not Aftonbladet.

If the Swedish model is to survive rapid and unpredictable changes in the labor market, the regulations for sympathy measures need to be regulated and modernized, write Jonny Cato and Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, Center Party.Photo: TT

DEBATE. Right now, the Swedish labor market is changing at record speed. Artificial intelligence, a de facto stop to important labor immigration and a growing technology industry with new conditions will require both agreements between trade unions and employer organizations as well as legislation to be modernized.

Sweden has long been known for its well-functioning labor market model, where the right to strike plays a central role.


The right to strike and sympathy measures must be protected, but we unfortunately see that sympathy measures - which are for workers to be able to support each other even when working in different workplaces - sometimes go too far.

It affects both innocent companies and workers all around. If the Swedish model is to survive rapid and unpredictable changes in the labor market, the regulations for sympathy measures need to be regulated and modernized.



Basically, our model, with strikes, sympathy measures, is a strength. They promote negotiations and create a sustainable labor market where the parties can agree on common solutions, without the state getting involved.

The ongoing conflict between IF Metall and Tesla is a clear example of the importance of letting the parties negotiate until they reach an agreement.


But in such conflicts we must also ensure that small business owners and subcontractors are not crushed when the giants wrestle.

If the companies that deliver software, manage real estate or manage IT systems risk going under as a result of a conflict with a large company they cannot influence at all, then Sweden becomes a very risky country to be a small business owner in. At the same time that the large companies are considering to move to other countries where they can be sure that their supply chains will function even after a longer strike.

In order for Sweden to be a country that flourishes with growing companies in a labor market with major changes, the rules for sympathy measures should be changed as follows:

1. Bulletproof measures: sympathetic measures, such as blockades and strikes, should only be directed at the company where the original strike is taking place
2. Environmental responsibility: those taking sympathetic action should have a clear responsibility to minimize the damage done to businesses and workplaces not involved in the original conflict.
3. Respect for Freedom of Association: if a workplace already has conditions equivalent to or better than collective agreements, it is unreasonable to use industrial action to force them to join a formal collective agreement.

By ensuring that everyone who wants to invest or start a business in Sweden can trust that the Swedish model does not get out of hand, we gain the best of both worlds: a strong right to strike that ensures fair conditions, as well as long-term security and predictability for those who want to invest or start a company in Sweden.

Jonny Cato, labor market policy spokesperson (C)
Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, business policy spokesperson (C)

 

[Krugerrand]

The centrist party in Sweden(not in the government, normally allied with the social democrat have commented):

Sympatistrejkerna mot Tesla har gått för långt

Centerpartiet: Reglerna måste ändras när oskyldiga företag drabbas

www.aftonbladet.se

The sympathy strikes against Tesla have gone too far​

The Center Party: The rules must be changed when innocent companies are affected​

This is a debate article. It is the writer who stands for the opinions presented in the text, not Aftonbladet.

If the Swedish model is to survive rapid and unpredictable changes in the labor market, the regulations for sympathy measures need to be regulated and modernized, write Jonny Cato and Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, Center Party.Photo: TT

DEBATE. Right now, the Swedish labor market is changing at record speed. Artificial intelligence, a de facto stop to important labor immigration and a growing technology industry with new conditions will require both agreements between trade unions and employer organizations as well as legislation to be modernized.

Sweden has long been known for its well-functioning labor market model, where the right to strike plays a central role.


The right to strike and sympathy measures must be protected, but we unfortunately see that sympathy measures - which are for workers to be able to support each other even when working in different workplaces - sometimes go too far.

It affects both innocent companies and workers all around. If the Swedish model is to survive rapid and unpredictable changes in the labor market, the regulations for sympathy measures need to be regulated and modernized.



Basically, our model, with strikes, sympathy measures, is a strength. They promote negotiations and create a sustainable labor market where the parties can agree on common solutions, without the state getting involved.

The ongoing conflict between IF Metall and Tesla is a clear example of the importance of letting the parties negotiate until they reach an agreement.


But in such conflicts we must also ensure that small business owners and subcontractors are not crushed when the giants wrestle.

If the companies that deliver software, manage real estate or manage IT systems risk going under as a result of a conflict with a large company they cannot influence at all, then Sweden becomes a very risky country to be a small business owner in. At the same time that the large companies are considering to move to other countries where they can be sure that their supply chains will function even after a longer strike.

In order for Sweden to be a country that flourishes with growing companies in a labor market with major changes, the rules for sympathy measures should be changed as follows:

1. Bulletproof measures: sympathetic measures, such as blockades and strikes, should only be directed at the company where the original strike is taking place
2. Environmental responsibility: those taking sympathetic action should have a clear responsibility to minimize the damage done to businesses and workplaces not involved in the original conflict.
3. Respect for Freedom of Association: if a workplace already has conditions equivalent to or better than collective agreements, it is unreasonable to use industrial action to force them to join a formal collective agreement.

By ensuring that everyone who wants to invest or start a business in Sweden can trust that the Swedish model does not get out of hand, we gain the best of both worlds: a strong right to strike that ensures fair conditions, as well as long-term security and predictability for those who want to invest or start a company in Sweden.

Jonny Cato, labor market policy spokesperson (C)
Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, business policy spokesperson (C)

Somebody with a clue. Employees themselves have argued all along #3.

 

[Zuikkis]

Somebody with a clue. Employees themselves have argued all along #3.

This is how it works in most countries. Strikes are outright illegal if there is no real flaw.

 

[heltok]

Report from a person on strike:

Teslamedarbetare: ”Ingen har koll på arbetsmiljölagen”

När han fick jobbet på Tesla var han stolt över att jobba på ett företag som stod för framtid och utveckling. Nu har Olof Sjöström strejkat en dryg månad.

www.dn.se

Tesla employee: "No one knows the work environment law"​

Updated 09:02 Published at 06:00

Olof Sjöström from Umeå is an electric car technician at Tesla. He has been on strike for just over a month. Photo: Erik Abel
When he got the job at Tesla, he was proud to work at a company that stood for the future and development. Now Olof Sjöström has been on strike for just over a month. For DN, he talks about his conditions at the company.
- We have no salary negotiations, instead you are assessed on a scale of 1-5.

https://www-dn-se.translate.goog/av..._sl=sv&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Electric car technician Olof Sjöström in Umeå takes the call in his electric car, a five-year-old Hyundai Ioniq. Actually, he wants to drive a Tesla, but inflation and interest have put an end to the purchase. A few years ago he worked at a workshop where he renovated and serviced Scania trucks. Olof Sjöström, who likes the development towards a fossil-free society, thought that electrification in the truck industry was moving too slowly.
- I am interested in electric cars and new technology. Tesla is at the forefront. I chose to bet and see how it goes, he says.
But at first he was a little hesitant . His union involvement within IF Metall made him think extra about the lack of a collective agreement. A headache which is now the reason why he and other IF Metall members have gone on strike against the electric car giant.

Olof Sjöström has several union assignments within IF Metall. Every week a digital meeting is held for all strikers. Photo: Erik Abel
Olof Sjöström emphasizes the deep knowledge of electric cars that he gained during his three years at Tesla. As a technician, he has been able to participate in the entire process during troubleshooting. And development is constantly moving forward.
- What was true yesterday need not be true today, says Olof Sjöström.
However, the work environment work does not work.
- No one knows the working hours act or the work environment act. Managers do not have a clue of which chemicals we work with and no risk assessments are made.
- But the biggest problem is that no one dares to highlight the shortcomings in the work environment, says Olof Sjöström.
Precisely the silence at the workplace is something he returns to. The lack of security that the collective agreement provides, he believes, means that many do not dare to express themselves or have an opinion about what is less good.

- My dream is to work on a Tesla with a collective agreement. Foreign companies should not be allowed to come here and do whatever the hell they want, says Olof Sjöström, who is on strike to put pressure on Tesla. Photo: Erik Abel
- The basic security does not exist, people can quit from one day to the next. It is not impossible that they fire everyone who goes on strike to avoid signing an agreement, he says.
Olof Sjöström is one of nine strikers at Tesla's workshop in Umeå, one of the places where the union has managed to mobilize the most members to the conflict.
Tesla's representatives are clear that they are not interested in signing a collective agreement, neither in Sweden nor in any other country. So far, the negotiations with IF Metall have not brought the parties closer together.
The electric car giant has claimed that the company offers equivalent or better contracts than the collective agreement.
- We earn decently, I estimate that the average salary for us is around SEK 35,000 a month. But in the end it is the manager who sets the salary, we have no influence, says Olof Sjöström.
He explains that the system on which salaries are set is based on a five-point scale where those who end up at three are talented employees who perform well.
- It is not a negotiation, but you are summoned and told what score you get. Last time I ended up in third place and got a two percent salary increase.
According to Olof Sjöström, a one means in principle that the person may quit Tesla. Those who end up on level two must also be out of favor and have their eyes on them from the boss.
- Those who end up high as on fours have done something really well or perhaps have been diligent. To get up to a fifth, I don't know what you have to have invented, he says.
- But a big problem is that nobody really understands the arbitrary salary system.
What does the pension look like at Tesla?
- From the age of 25, an occupational pension is paid in, 4.5 percent of income. The collective agreement also means 4.5 percent, but there is also a part-time pension that gives another 2.1 percent, we don't have that.
- We have no reduced working hours either.
The overtime pay?
- It is good, we get more than the collective agreement because it is calculated as a percentage based on the monthly salary, says Olof Sjöström.
Are you being offered shares in the company?
- I got $8,000 in shares when I started which was paid out over four years. But it's enough for Elon Musk to tweet something strange and the share price dives.
- If you have done a good job, you can get something called a Performance award, last time I got 500 kroner. You can choose to get that in shares. I haven't gotten rich from the shares, but those who have worked longer have probably made a fortune.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has bought the social media platform Twitter and renamed it X. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/AFP
Sounds like Tesla is offering decent terms?
- Of course, if you work a lot of overtime, there is money. But the problem is a lack of security and influence. People do not dare to express themselves critically.
You choose to talk openly about your strike. Are you risking your future on Tesla?
- I take that risk, it can certainly backfire on me. It is entirely possible that they put pressure on me, but I want to be able to tell the truth without risking anything, says Olof Sjöström.
- My dream is to work on a Tesla with a collective agreement. Foreign companies should not be allowed to come here and do whatever the hell they want.

 

[SwTslaGrl]

^This article is misleading,
- The article connects collective agreements with work environment. False, because work environment is regulated by law and overseen by a government body.
- The article says employees can be let go from one day to another. False, because labor laws are regulated by law with 3 months notice etc.
- The article says the salary is set by Tesla. This is exactly the same as union shops, IF Metall has promoted individual salary levels for the last 20 years. Before that IF Metall promoted "The same salary for the same job" as a slogan and in practice.
- The article says you get salary after performance. This is the same as in a union shop.
- The rest is his personal issues, not anything to do with Tesla. And of course Tesla isn't allowing him to do IF Metall work on payed work hours (this is allowed in union shops).

 

[BioSehnsucht]

The main thing I find strange from that article is that apparently he knew he was third place? Normally employee performance reviews are private.

Perhaps since he clearly doesn't understand the methodology, he misunderstood getting a '3' as being third?

Also weird the mention of people getting a 1 being likely to quit and how that causes uncertainty in the workplace, maybe that's just bad translation?

Usually in my experience low performers aren't likely to quit since they're also unlikely to be hunting a new job to quit for. They're more likely to get laid off and then try to maximize their unemployment benefits first. It's the high performing yet dissatisfied/ bored employees who are likely to quit after lining up a new job.

Of course my experience is all in the tech sector, so...

 

[Zuikkis]

They can get fired(like spotify recently fired 1500 people to improve their economic performance)

This bit caught my eye, as we in Finland have kind of envied Sweden for managing to create such world wide music service as Spotify. It was news to me that they don't have collective agreement.

Spotify was founded in Sweden year 2006, and have been operating without collective agreement ever since. Why aren't the unions interested? Is it different "law" for an American company?

 

[Zuikkis]

The main thing I find strange from that article is that apparently he knew he was third place? Normally employee performance reviews are private.

I think it's just translation error. "on which salaries are set is based on a five-point scale where those who end up at three are talented employees who perform well."

So they are given 1-5 scale on how well they are performing. And he got a three.

 

[SwTslaGrl]

This bit caught my eye, as we in Finland have kind of envied Sweden for managing to create such world wide music service as Spotify. It was news to me that they don't have collective agreement.

Spotify was founded in Sweden year 2006, and have been operating without collective agreement ever since. Why aren't the unions interested? Is it different "law" for an American company?

I think it's because IF Metall isn't directly involved in the tech industry, and some local governments have promoted tech clusters as the "Swedish silicon valley" in the past.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

@Krugerrand: Thinking about your dad the diesel mechanic...

A second Tesla mech. in Sweden has come forward with full name and photo. According to him and/or Stockholm's biggest paper that isn't a tabloid there are nine mechanics on strike just at the shop in Umeå in northern Sweden.

This is a Google translate. It won't be perfect and I haven't proof read or corrected anything, but it's one out of a total of two testimonials from a non-anonymous mechanic in this conflict.

EDIT: @heltok beat me to it. But his translation is missing the last sentence (maybe more – haven't checked...).

Here's the original source in Swedish. Don't know if it's paywalled or not:

Teslamedarbetare: ”Ingen har koll på arbetsmiljölagen”

När han fick jobbet på Tesla var han stolt över att jobba på ett företag som stod för framtid och utveckling. Nu har Olof Sjöström strejkat en dryg månad.

www.dn.se

Tesla employee: "No one knows the work environment law"

Updated 09:02 Published at 06:00

Olof Sjöström from Umeå is an electric car technician at Tesla. He has been on strike for just over a month. Photo: Erik Abel

When he got the job at Tesla, he was proud to work at a company that stood for the future and development. Now Olof Sjöström has been on strike for just over a month. For DN, he talks about his conditions at the company.
- We have no salary negotiations, instead you are assessed on a scale of 1-5.

Electric car technician Olof Sjöström in Umeå takes the call in his electric car, a five-year-old Hyundai Ioniq. Actually, he wants to drive a Tesla, but inflation and interest have put an end to the purchase. A few years ago he worked at a workshop where he renovated and serviced Scania trucks. Olof Sjöström, who likes the development towards a fossil-free society, thought that electrification in the truck industry was moving too slowly.

- I am interested in electric cars and new technology. Tesla is at the forefront. I chose to bet and see how it goes, he says.

But at first he was a little hesitant . His union involvement within IF Metall made him think extra about the lack of a collective agreement. A headache which is now the reason why he and other IF Metall members have gone on strike against the electric car giant.

Olof Sjöström has several union assignments within IF Metall. Every week a digital meeting is held for all strikers. Photo: Erik Abel

Olof Sjöström emphasizes the deep knowledge of electric cars that he gained during his three years at Tesla. As a technician, he has been able to participate in the entire process during troubleshooting. And development is constantly moving forward.

- What was true yesterday need not be true today, says Olof Sjöström.

However, the work environment work does not work.

- No one knows the working hours act or the work environment act. Managers do not have a clue of which chemicals we work with and no risk assessments are made.

- But the biggest problem is that no one dares to highlight the shortcomings in the work environment, says Olof Sjöström.

Precisely the silence at the workplace is something he returns to. The lack of security that the collective agreement provides, he believes, means that many do not dare to express themselves or have an opinion about what is less good.

- My dream is to work on a Tesla with a collective agreement. Foreign companies should not be allowed to come here and do whatever the hell they want, says Olof Sjöström, who is on strike to put pressure on Tesla. Photo: Erik Abel

- The basic security does not exist, people can quit from one day to the next. It is not impossible that they fire everyone who goes on strike to avoid signing an agreement, he says.

Olof Sjöström is one of nine strikers at Tesla's workshop in Umeå, one of the places where the union has managed to mobilize the most members to the conflict.

Tesla's representatives are clear that they are not interested in signing a collective agreement, neither in Sweden nor in any other country. So far, the negotiations with IF Metall have not brought the parties closer together.

The electric car giant has claimed that the company offers equivalent or better contracts than the collective agreement.

- We earn decently, I estimate that the average salary for us is around SEK 35,000 a month. But in the end it is the manager who sets the salary, we have no influence, says Olof Sjöström.

He explains that the system on which salaries are set is based on a five-point scale where those who end up at three are talented employees who perform well.

- It is not a negotiation, but you are summoned and told what score you get. Last time I ended up in third place and got a two percent salary increase.

According to Olof Sjöström, a one means in principle that the person may quit Tesla. Those who end up on level two must also be out of favor and have their eyes on them from the boss.

- Those who end up high as on fours have done something really well or perhaps have been diligent. To get up to a fifth, I don't know what you have to have invented, he says.

- But a big problem is that nobody really understands the arbitrary salary system.

What does the pension look like at Tesla?

- From the age of 25, an occupational pension is paid in, 4.5 percent of income. The collective agreement also means 4.5 percent, but there is also a part-time pension that gives another 2.1 percent, we don't have that.

- We don't have any shortened working hours either.

The overtime pay?

- It is good, we get more than the collective agreement because it is calculated as a percentage based on the monthly salary, says Olof Sjöström.

Are you being offered shares in the company?

- I got $8,000 in shares when I started which was paid out over four years. But it's enough for Elon Musk to tweet something strange and the share price dives.

- If you have done a good job, you can get something called a Performance award, last time I got 500 kroner. You can choose to get that in shares. I haven't gotten rich from the shares, but those who have worked longer have probably made a fortune.

Sounds like Tesla is offering decent terms?

- Of course, if you work a lot of overtime, there is money. But the problem is a lack of security and influence. People do not dare to express themselves critically.

You choose to talk openly about your strike. Are you risking your future on Tesla?

- I take that risk, it can certainly backfire on me. It is entirely possible that they put pressure on me, but I want to be able to tell the truth without risking anything, says Olof Sjöström.

- My dream is to work on a Tesla with a collective agreement. Foreign companies should not be allowed to come here and do whatever the hell they want.

Dagens Nyheter has applied for Tesla.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Paywalled, so haven't read...

Tesla meets the European social model

Elon Musk should adapt to the Swedish system, not the other way around

www.ft.com