Tesla faces growing union pressure in Sweden as dockworkers expand strike

STOCKHOLM -- Dockworkers in Sweden expanded their protest action against Tesla on Friday and are now preventing the automaker's cars from being unloaded at all ports in sympathy with Tesla workers demanding collective bargaining agreements.

Tesla, co-founded by billionaire Elon Musk, does not manufacture in Sweden, but its electric cars are serviced by around 130 mechanics affiliated with Swedish union IF Metall, which began a strike on Oct. 27.

Dockworkers joined the strike by mechanics on Nov. 7, blocking Sweden's four largest ports to Tesla cars. That was expanded to all ports on Friday at 12 a.m. CET.

Tesla, which has revolutionized the EV market, has managed to avoid collective bargaining agreements, which cover wages and conditions, with its roughly 127,000 workers and Musk has been vocal about his opposition to unions.

But if Sweden can break Tesla's resistance, that could provide a precedent for other countries.

So far, unions in the U.S. and Germany have failed to force the company to accept collective bargaining agreements.

"If they have come to Sweden, they must follow the rules. We have certain norms here and he (Musk) must accept them," Torbjorn Johansson, Negotiation Secretary at Sweden's LO labor confederation, said.

"Swedish workers cannot afford to lose this fight."

In addition to dockworkers, unionized cleaners are refusing to clean Tesla buildings and postal workers have stopped delivering mail.

On Friday, electricians stopped service and repair work for Tesla, including at its charging stations across Sweden.

Swedish workers are also supported by Norway's Fellesforbundet, the biggest union in the country's LO confederation.

Swedish unions have achieved success before getting foreign companies to accept local industrial practices.

In the 1990s, American toy company Toys "R" Us signed a collective bargaining agreement with its 130 Swedish employees after a three-month strike.

Action against Tesla is due to escalate further - if no agreement is reached - on Nov. 24 when about 50 unionized workers at Hydro Extrusions, a subsidiary of Norwegian aluminum and energy company Hydro, will stop work on Tesla car products.

Tesla has not responded to repeated requests for comment.