(NewsNation) — Tesla workers in Sweden say the company’s American values are at odds with the traditional Swedish work environment.
According to The New York Times, employees describe six-day workweeks, unavoidable overtime and an ambiguous promotion system.
The union representing the Tesla workers won’t say how many of the company’s 130 technicians have walked out and the company’s 10 service centers remain open, but it’s getting investor’s attention.
Reuters reports Nordic institutional investors said in a letter to Tesla earlier in December that they were deeply concerned by the conflict between the company and labor unions in Sweden. They’ve asked the company to reconsider its approach to collective bargaining.
About 130 mechanics at 10 Tesla garages across Sweden walked off the job on Oct. 27 over the company’s refusal to sign a collective bargaining agreement. Tesla doesn’t have a factory in Sweden, but does have a network of service centers.
Since the mechanics with the powerful Swedish metalworkers’ union IF Metall went on strike, other workers around the country have joined in sympathy, withholding their services to pressure the company.
Sweden’s Transport Workers’ Union said it would stop collecting waste at Tesla’s workshops as of Dec. 24 in solidarity with other workers on strike.
Other unions say their members won’t paint Tesla cars, clean the company’s offices or service electrical systems at its workshops or any of its 70 charging stations in Sweden.
Postal workers have stopped delivering license plates for new Tesla vehicles, prompting Tesla to sue the Swedish Transport Agency, demanding that it be allowed to retrieve the plates, and PostNord, the company that delivers the registration numbers. Tesla lost an early battle in the case, which is still working through the courts.
The boycott has escalated by spreading to neighboring Nordic countries. Like in Sweden, dockworkers in Denmark won’t unload Tesla vehicles arriving at ports. Unions in Finland and those in Norway have warned that workers at ports and workshops will join the strike.
