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Tesla Unionization
- Thread starter Buckminster
- Start date
Probably the guy this article is about: Marcus: “Min Tesla hålls gisslan av IF Metall” – Tesla Club Sweden
I saw something where I think he was going down a consumer protection path, since Werksta signed a contract to do the work and then refused to do it. So if they get all of the vehicles held "hostage" fixed, and don't take on anymore that would clear that issue. (And really what they should have done in the first place, finish vehicles in progress, but refuse to take on any additional ones.)
Article translated in this post:
Marcus: "My Tesla is being held hostage by IF Metall"
By Tibor Blomhäll | December 12, 2023 |
One of our members contacted us to share his story. Marcus bought a Tesla Model Y at the end of June this year. After owning the car for three weeks, he drove with his wife and son to Öland on holiday. "Go to Öland, it will be fun, they said," he tells us. "But it wasn't very fun."
On Öland, they were hit from behind. He slowed down and stopped, but the Volvo behind did not, but drove straight into their car at roughly 60 km/h. There was a terrible bang. "The car saved us," says Marcus, "if we had gone with the wife's Hyundai i10, I wouldn't be standing here today. I will never buy another car.”
As he lives on the west coast, he wanted the tow truck to transport the car to a sheet metal workshop in Gothenburg, but the insurance company Trygg-Hansa believed that the Werksta plant in Norrköping was closer. Werksta is an independent workshop chain with a collective agreement that is accredited for sheet metal work on Tesla cars. After several weeks of waiting, the car was then sent on to Werksta Linköping as they were considered to have better competence to repair its damage.
By the beginning of October, Werksta had received all the necessary spare parts from Tesla and started the repair work. Which was supposed to take three weeks according to their initial estimate but then dragged on.
When IF Metall issued its notice against Werksta at the end of October , Marcus became worried about his car. However, he received reassuring news: the notification would only apply to new cases, started jobs had to be completed so his car would not be affected.
The day before Werksta is taken out of the blockade, however, he receives new information: Werksta then claims that IF Metall has changed its mind, they will not be allowed to work on any Tesla at all, regardless of who is the customer or how far they have come on the work. The car must be moved out of the workshop premises. Werksta sets up a makeshift, unheated storage tent in the yard where his and other Tesla cars are placed. According to what he heard, IF Metall was not really satisfied with that arrangement either, in that the tent was still standing on Werksta's land, they really wanted the cars to go out on the street. Marcus's car was then completely disassembled from the back doors to the back. Werksta had started the assembly but had not had time to complete it.
When he asked if the car could be damaged by this, they did not want to answer at first. IF Metall concluded that the cars had to be boosted so that their batteries would not suffer permanent damage - but Marcus's car cannot be charged because the belt tensioner had tripped and thus automatically deactivated the main battery! Marcus' mobile has had no contact with the car for five months now. “Who knows how much charge it has left? The only thing that keeps me hopeful is that I had just charged the car, the batteries were 90% charged when the accident happened," says Marcus. The car's batteries are slowly discharging and if the charge reaches 0% or if the batteries freeze, they can be permanently damaged.
So now Marcus' car sits and slowly discharges and freezes to ice in an unheated tent in Linköping. A car he enjoyed for a total of three weeks before the crash. A car that had already received all the parts needed for the repair, a repair that his insurance company would pay for and that would be done at a sheet metal repair shop connected to public transport.
Marcus has tried in various ways to get rid of his car. From Werksta he received the message that IF Metall has forbidden them to even touch the car. IF Metall's contract secretary Veli-Pekka Säikkälä responded to his email with "I understand you and everyone else who is affected by this conflict". However, his solution to the problem was that as soon as Tesla signs off, the car can be fixed.
Marcus has also tried to get Trygg-Hansa to move his car to another sheet metal workshop. At first they said no problem, suggested that the car be moved to Ellte car in Tumba, a tow truck had even been booked. But then they suddenly changed their mind. Marcus believes out of fear for IF Metall. Suddenly he was called by a manager at Trygg-Hansa who said that they did not want to get involved in the conflict. If he wants to move the car and repair it elsewhere, he must do so at his own expense, the insurance company has only approved the cost of the repair at Werksta.
Marcus' car cost SEK 560,000. The damage after the collision was estimated at 200 thousand kroner. The replacement rental car Trygg-Hansa pays has already cost them over one hundred thousand kroner. And Marcus sees no improvement in his case. He does not believe in any quick solution but feels a kind of sick resignation, comparing the situation he has found himself in to Catch 22 or Kafka novels.
"That a strike affects third parties is completely reasonable and part of the game," says Marcus, "but in our case we have nothing to do with the company Tesla, apart from the fact that the car is of the Tesla brand. We have not ordered any work from Tesla, it is ordered by a completely independent workshop, which has also signed a collective agreement. What you do in this strike is that you use some form of juvenile schoolyard bullying where, in addition to making it difficult for the company, you also attack all customers, not indirectly but directly. As the car is not drivable and it is inside the workshop area where I have no access whatsoever, the car has in reality been seized by IF Metall."
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2daMoon
Mostly Harmless
It makes more sense once the lever behind the policy change is known. This should have been the policy from the start, that shops finish existing jobs and take no new Tesla's into those shops joining the sympathy strike.
Is this the Tesla owner who we read about? They had a new Tesla involved in a collision, insurance would pay to fix it and towed to the shop. Then, it was found the shop had parked it outside their fenced lot, on the street, for the duration of the strike. The owner wasn't allowed (by their insurance company?) to have it moved to another shop not involved in the strike.
Hmm.. The IF Metall lawyer had a side business with a defense industry employee selling items to Russia!
da-se.translate.goog
Förbundsjuristen och BAE-anställd sålde satellitantenner i Ryssland
Darko Davidovic och en anställd på BAE Systems har haft affärer med försvarsindustrin. De har sålt satellitantenner till Ryssland, haft affärsmöten i Mellanöstern och kontakt med ambassader.
da-se.translate.goog
Finnish media is really quiet about the Tesla strike, but what's "hot" seems to be news about swedish car retailers going bankrupt.
At least three companies during year 2024,
- Invest Auto Sweden
- Auto Lounge
- Arlandastad bil
www-is-fi.translate.goog
At least three companies during year 2024,
- Invest Auto Sweden
- Auto Lounge
- Arlandastad bil
Iso autokauppias halleineen taas konkurssissa – uusi merkki-ilmiö nostaa jo länsinaapurissa päätään
Ruotsissa on alkanut kaatua myös autoalan isoja toimijoita sekä uusia autoja kauppaavia niin sanottuja merkkiliikkeitä.
www-is-fi.translate.goog
2daMoon
Mostly Harmless
Finnish media is really quiet about the Tesla strike, but what's "hot" seems to be news about swedish car retailers going bankrupt.
At least three companies during year 2024,
- Invest Auto Sweden
- Auto Lounge
- Arlandastad bil
Iso autokauppias halleineen taas konkurssissa – uusi merkki-ilmiö nostaa jo länsinaapurissa päätään
Ruotsissa on alkanut kaatua myös autoalan isoja toimijoita sekä uusia autoja kauppaavia niin sanottuja merkkiliikkeitä.
Perhaps this newly discovered contagious epidemic could be called "CARVID-ICE"
It is easy to imagine something like this spreading world-wide as the transition to sustainable energy goes ballistic on the S-curve.
I have no idea how organized the dealership networks are in Sweden, but, could this kind of an organization be a mystery force helping fan the flames as a silent partner to IF Metal's curiously intense battle they have waged against Tesla?
The union's incorrect information about the Tesla exemption
When IF Metall announced on Tuesday that Tesla owners whose cars had been unusable at third-party workshops since the strike began would now have a chance to have them repaired, the 100-200 affected probably breathed a sigh of relief.- We make sure that cars that are properly crashed, that are undriveable, and that are now in these workshops that are taken out in sympathy measure, that for a period here, a temporary period, you will be able to fix these cars, said Veli -Pekka Säikkälä to SR Ekot.It is the union's local branches that, together with the workshops, will decide which cars can be repaired, he said.
P4 Uppland went out the morning after and interviewed the pickets in Uppsala, where the damage workshop is right next to Tesla's own workshop. But then ombudsman Peter Lydell claimed that the exemption did not apply to all cars:- Yes, these are cars over three years old and which are not driveable at all, so those who have some sheet metal damage and those pieces, they will not be exempt from this. And we'll also go through each license plate number and each car specifically to see which ones are exempt from this.Peter Lydell said that today, Friday, in consultation with the workshop, they would go through "which cars it is, and see that they are older than three years".
IF Metall's Facebook page also confirmed on a direct question that "Warranty work on newer cars (2 years) is not covered by the exemption.And finally, IF Metall wrote on its website:"The dispensation only applies to older cars that are insurance jobs. So-called warranty jobs on newer cars are not covered by the dispensation."Considering that a large part of all Tesla cars in traffic in Sweden have been sold in the last three years - is anyone even helped by that restriction? And why didn't Veli-Pekka mention anything about this in the Ekot interview - did the fellow stand and lie just to make the union look better?No. It turns out that Veli-Pekka was honest, and that the union mixed things up internally.Every new car sold in Sweden is covered by a three-year so-called vehicle damage guarantee, which is signed by the general agent or the manufacturer. The guarantee means that the first owner only needs to pay for half insurance for the first few years, as the carriage damage guarantee covers up to the equivalent of full insurance.But why this hassle, which is unique to Sweden? Well, by calling the insurance a "guarantee", the premium paid by the manufacturer to the insurance company is VAT-free. And once a manufacturer started doing it, it became a selling point that made it hard for competitors not to do the same - because what new car buyer doesn't want a lower insurance cost in the first few years?However, as the name suggests, the carriage damage warranty is not a traditional warranty - that is, the manufacturer promises that the product will be free from defects and problems for a certain period. If the product breaks due to a design fault, the manufacturer will repair it free of charge. On the other hand, a traditional warranty naturally does not apply if the buyer himself has broken the product.When IF Metall wrote that "guarantee jobs" were not covered by the exemption, some in the union interpreted that it was the carriage damage guarantee that was meant. But a wagon damage warranty is just insurance for which the manufacturer pays a premium to an insurance company. If the "warranty" is then used, it is a matter between the car's owner and the insurance company - the manufacturer has nothing to do with the matter.When IF Metall's press service didn't really have a clue and drew the same incorrect conclusions, I called Veli-Pekka myself. He didn't understand the difference at first either, but returned and was able to tell:- As long as the car is not ordered from Tesla to the workshop but from an insurance company, and that it is not drivable, then the car should be able to be repaired.And that is always the case when the carriage damage guarantee is used. But the union's local ombudsmen not having a clue, and thus making mistakes, is remarkably lousy.
"They" (IF Metal?) will be reviewing which plates are allowed to be repaired? Sounds like a privacy issue, the sort of thing that doesn't fly in EU areas generally... someone should make a stink about that.
SwedishAdvocate
Active Member
That union jurist Darko Davidovic (or whatever his title was in English) no longer works for IF Metall since yesterday ~16:22 local time.
In Swedish:
da.se
In Swedish:
Förbundsjuristen slutar på IF Metall
Förbundsjuristen Darko Davidovic slutar på IF Metall med omedelbar verkan, efter Dagens Arbetes granskning. Förbundssekreterare Martin Gunnarsson: Måste titta på om vi behöver förfina kontrollsystemet.
da.se
2daMoon
Mostly Harmless
That union jurist Darko Davidovic (or whatever his title was in English) no longer works for IF Metall since yesterday ~16:22 local time.
In Swedish:
Förbundsjuristen slutar på IF Metall
Förbundsjuristen Darko Davidovic slutar på IF Metall med omedelbar verkan, efter Dagens Arbetes granskning. Förbundssekreterare Martin Gunnarsson: Måste titta på om vi behöver förfina kontrollsystemet.
What took them so long to fire him?
Isn't this the same person who lied to get a paycheck to go to school, and for a couple of years the union management never checked to confirm progress was being made?
Would've thought the deceit regarding the two year paid vacation under pretense of law school to have resulted in that firing some time ago. This leads me to question the ability of the leadership of IF Metal to make good decisions about ethical issues. Or, perhaps they are realizing that operations using a double standard can be challenging to maintain.
Maybe this is confusing for them to be calling out such behavior internally while simultaneously being duplicitous in regard to the union's external issues. Such as when they are fighting for worker's rights in a way that results in the loss of employment for more sympathizers than the number of Tesla employees actually striking.
More and more it seems as though the brain trust at IF Metal does not exemplify the sort of tools that have been honed to a fine edge.
Tiger
Active Member
It might be difficult to fire bad apples when your whole premise is about virtue signaling employee benefits and employment stability. Can you end up with anything else than bad apples looking out for each other in the management hierarchy of such organization?What took them so long to fire him?
Isn't this the same person who lied to get a paycheck to go to school, and for a couple of years the union management never checked to confirm progress was being made?
Would've thought the deceit regarding the two year paid vacation under pretense of law school to have resulted in that firing some time ago. This leads me to question the ability of the leadership of IF Metal to make good decisions about ethical issues. Or, perhaps they are realizing that operations using a double standard can be challenging to maintain.
Maybe this is confusing for them to be calling out such behavior internally while simultaneously being duplicitous in regard to the union's external issues. Such as when they are fighting for worker's rights in a way that results in the loss of employment for more sympathizers than the number of Tesla employees actually striking.
More and more it seems as though the brain trust at IF Metal does not exemplify the sort of tools that have been honed to a fine edge.
Not sure if anybody cares about this Swedish strike anymore but today a Swedish large daily newspaper published news based on open statistics showing that 44 full time equivalents, about a third of the Swedish Tesla workers who could be on strike were on strike in 2023. So actually a little more than I had thought but still a very low participation. The union's spokesperson stated that it was a disappointment but that they "must try to help even a single member who wants a collective bargaining agreement".
www.dn.se
Två av tre strejkar inte på Tesla: ”En besvikelse”
Medlingsinstitutets rapport för 2023 visar att 1 936 arbetsdagar förlorades på grund av Teslakonflikten. Det motsvarar var tredje metallare: ”Besvikelse”
www.dn.se
That's a lot higher than what has been reported in newspapers before and numbers given by Tesla etc. Something seems off, maybe they include some workers at other companies that are in sympathy strike. If these numbers are true then imo wp Tesla to manage to run their business without these 44 workers.Not sure if anybody cares about this Swedish strike anymore but today a Swedish large daily newspaper published news based on open statistics showing that 44 full time equivalents, about a third of the Swedish Tesla workers who could be on strike were on strike in 2023. So actually a little more than I had thought but still a very low participation. The union's spokesperson stated that it was a disappointment but that they "must try to help even a single member who wants a collective bargaining agreement".
Två av tre strejkar inte på Tesla: ”En besvikelse”
Medlingsinstitutets rapport för 2023 visar att 1 936 arbetsdagar förlorades på grund av Teslakonflikten. Det motsvarar var tredje metallare: ”Besvikelse”
Not sure there is a big mismatch. Tesla has reported that about 10% of their employees are on strike and they had 289 employees in total in Sweden at the end of 2022. If Tesla has grown a lot during 2023 they may now have so many employees that 44 is about 10% of that and the number 44 is also a figure derived by counting backwards by the newspaper, so maybe not an exactly correct figure.
Tesla comments tonight, in Sweden's largest business daily, and reiterates that 30 out of 300 in total are on strike. Tesla fyra månader in i strejken: 90 procent arbetar
I doubt that they would dare to lie about that so my guess is that the backwards calculation of 44 on strike from earlier today was a bit high then.
I doubt that they would dare to lie about that so my guess is that the backwards calculation of 44 on strike from earlier today was a bit high then.
There were reports of mechanics returning to work shortly after the strike began; I read that as a peak participation level.
The Union doesn't give up, even though it is now very clear that a majority of the Tesla workers does not strike. Now another sympathy measure is on its way, which aim to prevent Tesla chargers of being installed or serviced. In my opinion, the unions are not doing themselves any favors by their actions.
www.realtid.se
Seko stoppar service av Teslas laddstationer
– IF Metalls kamp är även vår kamp. Genom att vägra förhålla sig till spelreglerna här i Sverige så försöker..
www.realtid.se
2daMoon
Mostly Harmless
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