Tesla has lost a legal action against Sweden’s postal service as a dispute with Nordic trade unions escalates.
A Swedish court said on Thursday that PostNord did not, for the time being, need to deliver licence plates to the electric carmaker that were being blocked by the postal service’s workers, in the latest twist in a battle over collective bargaining agreements.
Tesla, which is run by the billionaire Elon Musk, is facing growing pressure in Sweden, Norway and Denmark from unions backing IF Metall mechanics in Sweden who went on strike on 27 October, demanding a collective agreement with the company.
A large Danish pension fund on Wednesday said it would sell its holdings in Tesla because of the carmaker’s refusal to enter into such deals while Denmark’s largest trade union has joined strike action by the company’s workers in Sweden.
The court’s decision on Thursday comes after Tesla sued PostNord as workers stopped delivering plates for its new cars in a sympathy strike, and is an interim decision before a final ruling.
Solna district court said it decided that PostNord should not be forced to make deliveries to Tesla before the case was closed.
Dockworkers, drivers, electricians and cleaners are other workers who refuse, or are threatening to refuse, to service Tesla in sympathy with IF Metall.
Nordic countries represent key markets for Tesla, which has a policy of not agreeing to collective bargaining and has said its staff have as good or better terms than those IF Metall is demanding.
Musk said last week: “I disagree with the idea of unions. I just don’t like anything which creates a lords and peasants kind of thing.”
Last year, Norway was Tesla’s fourth-biggest market by number of new car sales. Sweden was its fifth-biggest and Tesla’s Model Y is the most sold car in Sweden this year.
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In a case related to the PostNord case, a court on 27 November ruled the Swedish Transport Agency must find a way to get licence plates to Tesla. The agency has appealed against the decision.
Some Swedish pension funds have urged Tesla to sign the agreement with the union, but so far held off from selling their shares.