2023-11-27 19:22:00
A Swedish court ruled on Monday that the country’s transport authority must find a way to send license plates to Tesla, which are blocked by postal workers in a union lockout, Aftonbladet newspaper reported, quoted by Archyde.com.
Showroom TeslaFoto: Shutterstock
The decision comes hours following the US electric car maker sued the agency and state company PostNord over postal workers stopping the delivery of plates for its new cars.
On November 20, PostNord workers joined a union action to force Tesla to sign a collective bargaining agreement for mechanics in Sweden, and the transport agency refused to deliver the plates by other means, saying it was contractually bound to use PostNord.
However, the Norrkoping District Court ruled that the agency must get the plates to Tesla within seven days or pay a fine of 1 million Swedish kroner ($95,000).
“It is right that a decision has been made, which gives justice to Tesla’s request,” Johannes Ericsson, Tesla’s lawyer, told Aftonbladet.
The district court, the transportation agency, Tesla and its attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The decision is the latest twist in the battle between Tesla and Swedish union groups.
The IF Metall union put mechanics on strike on October 27, refusing to service Tesla cars because the company did not accept collective bargaining.
Members of other unions, including dockers, electricians and maids, have since taken solidarity action.
Tesla has a policy of not signing collective bargaining agreements and says its employees have conditions as good as or even better than those demanded by IF Metall.
The union says it is vital to the Swedish labor market model that all companies have collective agreements.
In its court filing, Tesla described the transport agency’s decision not to let it pick up license plates as “a unique attack on a company operating in Sweden”.
Seko, the union that organized the PostNord workers, told Archyde.com that an easy solution for Tesla would have been to sign the collective bargaining agreement with IF Metall.
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