Tesla's fight with Swedish auto mechanics over a collective labor agreement is shaping up to be a long tug-of-war. On Thursday, the world's electric vehicle leader suffered its latest defeat in a Swedish court. As the background to the whole thing,
Because the auto repair workers held high the banner of "defending the important traditions of the Swedish labor market," local dock workers and postal workers responded one after another and joined the "targeted strike" against Tesla.
This involves a problem: Swedish new car license plates can only be sent through the PostNord service of Sweden and Denmark. The couriers refused to process Tesla's mail, which meant that Tesla's new cars could not be put on the road. Because of this, after the situation escalated, Tesla immediately took the Swedish Transport Agency, which issued the license plates, and PostNord, which delivered the license plates, to court, claiming that "the Swedish government has a constitutional obligation to provide license plates to car owners."
Unlike the trial efficiency of U.S. courts, the case of Tesla v. Swedish Transport Agency came to a conclusion on October 27. Sweden's Norrköping District Court ruled that the Swedish government should allow Tesla to "pick up its own license plates" or face fines.
Also at the end of October, the Solna District Court, which was hearing Tesla v. PostNord, also gave Tesla a taste of victory. The court ordered that Tesla be allowed to obtain new car license plates from a PostNord facility, but this order can only take effect after Tesla's case with the Swedish Transport Agency is known.
Then things took a turn, and they moved in a direction that was unfavorable to Tesla.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, the Swedish Transport Agency appealed. The Court of Appeal announced on Tuesday that it would accept the case and vacated the order issued by the district court, which means that Tesla has come full circle and returned to the original point - trying to find a way to let the postal service deliver express delivery.
On Thursday, the court hearing Tesla and PostNord also ruled against the electric vehicle leader. "The court has decided that PostNord should not be forced to provide delivery services to Tesla until the conclusion of this case," the Solna District Court said.
At the same time, just as Tesla has circled the Swedish court and returned to square one, the problems it has to face are becoming more and more. After Swedish dockworkers refused to handle Tesla-related shipments, including vehicles
Jan Villadsen, head of 3F in the transport industry, told the media: "IFMetall and the workers in Sweden are fighting an extremely important battle. When they ask for our support, it is natural for us to lend a helping hand."
The current situation is also spreading out from the union field. PensionDanmark, the country's largest pension fund with 317.3 billion Danish kroner, also announced on Wednesday that