Swedish dockworkers refuse unloading Teslas in protest against producer's anti-union stance

Automobile manufacturer Tesla is confronted with its first formal labor action in Sweden due to its global policy of resisting unionization, marking a significant development with potential repercussions for the company worldwide.

As reported by the NPR, dockworkers at the Swedish port of Malmö are refusing to unload Tesla vehicles from cargo containers in protest of the US manufacturer's poor labour practices. 

The Swedish metal and industrial workers union, IF Metall, which represents around 120 Tesla employees, almost all of them being mechanics working at the service centers, has been pushing for a collective bargaining agreement with the US company. Previously, the union initiated a walkout in late October.

In the latest development of the situation, Swedish workers from different industries - dockworkers, electricians, cleaners and others – are banding together to boycott Tesla in solidarity, with postal workers being the latest group to join the protest, refusing to deliver mail to the company. 

The right to unionize is of great importance in Sweden, where about 90% of the entire workforce belongs to trade unions and they are covered by contracts with their employers, which standardize pay rates, insurance and pensions, among other work conditions, in each sector.

While the protest in Sweden is the largest of its kind against the company, there is growing discontent at factories all around the world, including Tesla's only one in Europe located near Berlin in Germany. Experts believe that the Swedish protest could send a message and cause a chain reaction among them. Anders Gustafsson, a former dockworker who now works for the Swedish transport workers' union, told the publication that his union has received messages of support from unions in other countries, including in the US and Canada.