Tesla Unionization

[TSemi]

Tesla is a trailblazer. You really think Tesla will continue to be a Trailblazer once its board decisions are held back by Swedish unions whose attitude is "Tesla wants to slip into its own lane and draw up its own rules. They can forget that. That's not how the Swedish labor market works, says Malin Ragnegård in the press release".

Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure you meant the type of boards where unions have a seat and say so i.e. Europe(not U.S.).

Post #974:

Tesla Unionization

Let's say Tesla "wins", in the sense that the Union gives up its fight to force Tesla to sign a collective bargaining agreement. I see that as unlikely given earlier similar disputes (Toys R Us probably the most famous one) But even if that happened, a lot of left leaning potential Tesla buyers...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[samppa]

Agreed on this. The "everyone who signs an agreement gets 2 Union board members" clause, while I assume it applies to the Tesla Sweden Board (a much smaller entity), is surely a nonstarter for Tesla. The reduced focus on the mission (sustainable energy) must rightly be seen as a threat to the mission. To be true to the mission, the focus at Tesla Sweden has to be delivering and maintaining the most cars and building and maintaining the most Superchargers at the least monetary and environmental cost. I include monetary because any money saved is money that goes to speeding the transition, via any of the proven pipelines of Tesla products. To the extent that the Board's focus becomes "make sure we preserve jobs for the union members regardless of job performance, inefficiency/cost, or waste" the mission is compromised. Tesla under Elon will simply not accept this.
I've said it before and I will say it again: Tesla is big enough that it does not need Sweden. Sweden is big enough that it does not need Tesla. But they both could continue to benefit from each other much more in the future if this is resolved.
BTW: I have been watching the spreading and escalation with interest. Tesla is still delivering cars but at far more cost/hassle, almost certainly. Does anyone know about Superchargers? I recall a post awhile back showing concern that SC's were not getting serviced in Sweden. Was this all chargers? Only a few? Any new word on that?

Tesla has their own supercharger service technicians, so SC's would be serviced normally.

I think theres around 50 supercharger stations in sweden, and of those a few have 40 stalls. A lot of chargers.

 

[rlsd]

If the unions boycott anything related to Tesla then Volvo employees will refuse to design and assemble NACS connectors too. And supercharging stations will not be built in Sweden or Swedish drivers will be blocked from accessing if those stations use Tesla equipments. The unions should think of bigger pictures.

Also think of energy storage and Tesla mega packs.

Sweden battery storage market to grow 2-4x in 2023

Some 100-200MW of grid-scale battery storage could come online in Sweden this year, local developer Ingrid Capacity told Energy-Storage.news.

www.energy-storage.news

 

[Krugerrand]

Yes. Blackmailing is the way to go. Sure makes decisions building a business in these countries easier.

I believe there’s going to be a lot of self-entertaining going on.

 

[Krugerrand]

So how about Tesla hold a ballot with their employees on what they want, make the result public and abide by the majority? Or alternatively, let those that want to be part of a collective agreement form one, the other worker able to go it alone still?

They’ve already done it. Twice as I recall. How many times do you suggest?

And in terms of Swedish workers; every single employee knew before submitting a resume, going to an interview, and accepting a job that there was no signed collective agreement.

How much clearer do employees need to be!?

 

[Krugerrand]

I have been working in and close to the financial services sector for over 25 years, both in the US and in Sweden. I have never seen a shred of evidence for these conspiracies of "Wall Street" trying to manipulate stocks. Sure, certain activist hedge funds and short seller may campaign to strengthen their cases but generally speaking markets are what they have always been, irrational short term but very rational long term.

Maybe you’re not looking closely enough, maybe too close to see (forest for the trees), or you’re part of it and don’t even know it.

 

[Krugerrand]

Threatening to dump stocks of something because of a disagreement is not blackmail lol

Threatening to stop advertising spending on Twitter is and was not blackmail


Hopefully we don't need a dictionary or legal consult in here, I'm sure somewhere here can define it for us

Absolutely not blackmail but it is coercion. We can argue over the words people use, but it doesn’t change the fact it’s deplorable behavior.

Quit with the threats and just do what you feel compelled to do. We can have a whole lot more respect for the entities and people that way.

 

[Mengy]

No source on this, but if this X post is correct, apparently 16 Nordic funds are threatening to sell their @tsla position if Tesla does not sign a collective agreement with IF Metall.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1736691844753346862

LOL! Good luck with that strategy!!!!!

 

[Krugerrand]

I think they might argue they're the ones sacrificing by cutting off access to potential customers through removing advertisements on a major social media platform

What's it called when you take a stance despite risking losing $$$? Doesn't seem too different from the stance Elon is taking

Yes, there’s no difference between coercion, and morals and ethics.

 

[Artful Dodger]

Maybe you’re not looking closely enough, maybe too close to see (forest for the trees), or you’re part of it and don’t even know it.

... and when the SEC issues fines to large borkerages for consistently mismarking short sales as long, then they blame it on 'software' bugs? But I've never seen any evidence... this guy doesn't just work in the industry; the industry owns him.

 

[scaesare]

LOL! Good luck with that strategy!!!!!

Hope those Nordic folks like Good Frozen Yogurt....

 

[Rarity]

60% of Swedes side with the union. Why allocate resources to a market that doesn’t want you? At some point, you need to walk away. And I don’t see a snow ball effect, Germany was the biggest concern and they they’ve basically sided with Tesla

Scary rhetoric aside, we seem to be a long way from Tesla exiting Sweden or the other Nordic countries.

Tesla has been able to operate in many challenging jurisdictions and business conditions, both in the US and internationally. Generally speaking this is because the vast majority of jurisdictions want more of Tesla's business, not less. Even the vast majority of unions would want more of Tesla's business, although they will be quiet about that fact.

Tesla buys lots of Swedish manufacturing equipment and some automotive parts. I assume that most/all of these suppliers are unionized IF Metall. I imagine that these suppliers are high quality and warrant Tesla's business, but I doubt that any of them are sole suppliers. If needed, they will be substituted.

Even though I do not know enough about Sweden to envision how IF Metall could walk back their rhetoric and strike, I still expect them to do so. But maybe they won't, and Sweden will get a black mark as a place that's not open for business.

 

[SOULPEDL]

Somehow your words go very well with that image of an angry cat

Sorry, but LMAO funny. I didn't even need to look to see who posted. It could be only one cat.

 

[RickAnstey]

Interesting fact ... all Ikea stores in the U.S. are non-union. Perhaps we should reciprocate by not shopping at Ikea.

 

[2daMoon]

Interesting fact ... all Ikea stores in the U.S. are non-union. Perhaps we should reciprocate by not shopping at Ikea.

That's asking too much. I shop at IKEA every ten to fifteen years, whether I need to or not. It would be hard to alter that regularity.
More of an exercise program, really, what with having to follow the maze to get out again and all.

 

[Unclepaul]

A private business should be able to operate anywhere they are legally entitled to do so.

Forget about Tesla. When the hordes of Chinese government subsidized flood into Sweden, I do not see them embracing union control.

This is simply unions using bully tactics, intimidation and coersion to control their marketplace.

 

[CitizenKane]

A private business should be able to operate anywhere they are legally entitled to do so.

Forget about Tesla. When the hordes of Chinese government subsidized flood into Sweden, I do not see them embracing union control.

This is simply unions using bully tactics, intimidation and coersion to control their marketplace.

We'll see about China. So far the Chinese sell a lot of stuff in Sweden but there are very few Chinese companies with Swedish employees. But Volvo cars is a Chinese owned company and they are definitely unionized. The main focus when its come to China is to what extent their companies are in fact run by the Chinese government and if they have other motives than purely commercial. I think Chinese owned companies will like to draw as little attention to themselves as possible so I would rather think it to be very unlikely that they would go for this kind of political fight that Tesla engages in. I think they are smarter than that. (Unfortunately, I might add, since I don't like businesses that support autocracies.)

 

[unionbustin]

Who said anything about politics?

60% of Swedes side with the union. Why allocate resources to a market that doesn’t want you? At some point, you need to walk away. And I don’t see a snow ball effect, Germany was the biggest concern and they they’ve basically sided with Tesla

Hate to say it, but I think you're right.

The question is do you think Mr. Musk is smart enough to walk away and not get get mud all over himself wrestlin with the hogs.

Strategy right now seems to be mostly whining on twitter and I guess losing court cases and hoping to change laws in the future with the new hire, which I'm not quite sure I understand will help deal with the immediate situation. But I'm also not smart like Mr. Musk.

 

[2daMoon]

But I'm also not smart like Mr. Musk.

Finally. You contribute something I can agree with.

 

[2daMoon]

The strategy, from my perspective, seems to be for Tesla Sweden to avoid engaging IF Metall in the media (court of public opinion), stick to the facts of the situation (first principles), and, employ any lawful means to address the hurdles deployed by the union. This includes lawsuits, as appropriate, to address actions by the union which interrupt business in what appears to be illegal methods worthy of a court decision.

The impact to Tesla operations has showcased their ability to provide creative work arounds, and delivery of the vehicles continue. Demonstrated prominently by Tesla being the best selling vehicle in Sweden this year.

It seems to me that Tesla is more of a burden to IF Metall than the union have been to Tesla. Despite all the news stories to the contrary, Tesla operations in Sweden continue to provide product and services to their satisfied customers.

The same cannot be said for the extortion-based relationships IF Metall establishes with those businesses who make the mistake of contracting with them.