Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, has secured a provisional court order from a Swedish court, instructing the country’s transport authority to find a way to get licence plates to Tesla that are being blocked by postal workers, the Aftonbladet newspaper reported.
In the filed lawsuit on Monday, Tesla is taking legal action against the Swedish state. More specifically, Tesla’s legal complaint addresses the partially state-owned Swedish Transport Agency, which in a sympathetic strike with car mechanics of the local trade union, has refused to deliver new license plates to the US car manufacturer.
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The Norrköping district court rapidly ruled in favour of Tesla, stating that the company should be permitted to collect the plates from the transport agency offices.
The legal drama began when 130 Tesla mechanics requested for their wages to be set through collective bargaining, as is customary in Sweden.
As a result of Tesla declining the request, IF Metall initiated a strike that prompted various secondary or sympathetic industrial actions that have persisted for five weeks now. This includes strikes from unions representing postal workers, dockworkers, electricians, painters, and others.
“This is insane”, tweeted Elon Musk in regards to the Swedish Transport Agency’s decision to stop delivering new licence plates as this significantly hinders the company from selling new cars in the country.
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By GlobalDataAccording to the Swedish financial newspaper Dagens Industry, Tesla filed a document to the district court stating: “This confiscation of license plates constitutes a discriminatory attack without any support in law directed against Tesla.”
Following the legal win, Tesla stated: “We are pleased that with this decision, Tesla can continue to deliver new cars to our customers”, reports the Financial Times.
The future of the conflict is uncertain as the postal agency has yet to respond to the court’s ruling on Monday. What is clear is that Elon Musk’s management style and views on trade unions collide with European labour practices and, as a result, more of these conflicts are likely to arise.
For instance, the Guardian reports that IG Metall has expressed its readiness to initiate collective bargaining talks in Germany if the workers express such a demand, potentially extending this conflict to Germany, where Tesla maintains a production plant.
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