ON October 27 last year, mechanics working for Tesla in Sweden walked out on strike after the company refused to agree to a collective bargaining agreement. Sectoral collective bargaining is standard practice in Sweden, but Elon Musk and the company refuse to sit down and reach an agreement.
 
Marie Neilson is the president of the workers’ union IF Metall and president of the powerful global manufacturing and energy union IndustriALL. Tony Burke interviewed her exclusively for the Morning Star.
 
Why is it important for IF Metall to have a collective agreement with Tesla?

Our members at Tesla deserve long-term, fair and safe working conditions, just like everyone else in the Swedish labour market. We have been trying to negotiate a collective agreement with Tesla for many years, but they have continued to refuse to negotiate an agreement.

Tesla is a major player in the auto industry, and they should, of course, compete on the same terms as all other companies in Sweden and respect the basic principles of the Swedish labour market. At its core, this is about wages, pensions, and conditions for our members working at Tesla.
 
Local management will be well aware of the way things work in Sweden. How much influence do you think they have with Musk?

Actually, we do not know to what extent Musk himself is involved in decision-making regarding the dispute. The Swedish management at Tesla has stated that they have full jurisdiction in deciding whether to sign a collective agreement or not.

But given Musk’s known negative opinions on unions and union organising — there are reasons to doubt if this is actually the full truth.

We have had talks with the Swedish management on a number of occasions, and at one point in April, national mediators became involved. But sadly, it has not yet resulted in any acceptable agreement.

Overall, Tesla’s Swedish management is reluctant to enter negotiations. We have ways of contacting each other, but as I said, to what extent Musk himself or Tesla’s global management at any level are involved, we do not know.
 
You have had good support from other unions in Sweden and Scandinavia, with unions refusing to do work for Tesla.

Eleven unions are actively supporting the strike with their own measures directed at Tesla’s operations.

The transport and dock workers have a blockade on handling Tesla vehicles in Swedish ports. The postal workers do not deliver mail, the construction workers and electricians are refusing to do maintenance work at Tesla’s workshops and on the electric vehicle charging stations nationwide.

Unions, both within and outside Sweden’s borders, have expressed their strong support, and we are, of course, very grateful to them.

The striking IF Metall members at Tesla, the pickets outside Tesla’s workshops, and all other union members who actively participate in supporting our members, are fighting for decent conditions for all wage earners in Sweden.
 
Is Tesla still bringing in new vehicles into Sweden?

Yes, new cars continue to arrive. As far as we know, the vehicles are brought in mainly by lorries from central Europe because of the ports in Sweden being closed for deliveries by the dockworkers and transport workers’ unions.
 
A number of “outside bodies” including pension schemes tried to bring pressure to bear on Musk — how did he respond to them?

Not at all — as far as we know. Tesla only seems to communicate with their biggest institutional owners — and most of them voted against the proposal for collective bargaining. However, the fact that a significant number of investors have raised questions on Tesla’s anti-union policies is very important.
 
Has the Swedish government intervened to settle the dispute?

No. And that is just the way it should be and how we want it to be. One of the basic cornerstones in the Swedish way of organising the labour market, is that politicians and governments should keep out of labour market conflicts.

Disputes are best settled by the unions and the employers. We do not want political involvement, and so far the government and political parties — for the most part — have done a good job by keeping out.
 
Musk has a very high-profile right-wing stance. He supports Trump and criticised the British government during the recent right-wing riots. How do workers in Sweden feel about him?

First of all, the support for our members on strike by Swedish workers is solid, and recent polls among the public have shown that around 60 per cent of the public support our demands for a collective agreement.

As for Musk’s political agenda, and his recent shift towards increasingly more right-wing opinions, I can only guess that this might alienate people who disagree with him.

I can only presume that it is cause for concern among investors and shareholders, as well as for many Tesla customers. I don’t believe his political stance is very good for business.
 
So, is IF Metall in for the long haul?

Morale among our members on strike is very high, even despite having been on strike for all this time. Everyone is determined that we need to reach an agreement and settle the dispute, but there is no sign of weakened resolve among our members.

On the contrary — our membership in Tesla is growing, and more workers at Tesla have chosen to join IF Metall and join the strike. Over half of Tesla’s employees in our field of operations — the mechanics and technicians — are union members.
 
Musk has deep pockets — how do you think IF Metall can win the dispute?

We knew from the start that this was not going to be an easy victory. We are up against a determined counterpart who is strongly opposed to adhering to the basic conditions of the labour market in Sweden.

But we, too, are determined as there are no reasons why Tesla should not compete on the same terms as all other companies in Sweden. I honestly don’t know how long this conflict will go on. But I am confident that we will reach an agreement.