Tesla defeats IF Metall after nearly three-year strike

IF Metall's nearly three-year confrontation with Tesla has ended in defeat. The union will halt all industrial action on 19 August without securing a collective agreement, saying Tesla bought out every remaining striking member until there was no strike left to sustain.

IF Metall said the measures will end at 00:01 on Wednesday. The strike began on 27 October 2023 after Tesla refused the union's demand for a Swedish collective agreement.

The announcement leaves Tesla operating in Sweden without the agreement IF Metall demanded. Tesla, the electric-car maker, has refused to sign a Swedish collective agreement throughout the conflict.

IF Metall bargaining secretary Simon Petersson accused Tesla of choosing buyouts and strikebreaking over an agreement. LO bargaining secretary Veli-Pekka Säikkälä gave the result a plainer description: ending without an agreement was a failure.

The outcome follows months in which the group of strikers shrank. In May, workers in Malmö and Uppsala were reported to be returning, and Dagens Arbete later reported that Tesla had bought out the remaining strikers.

Tesla kept its Swedish operations running during the dispute. SVT reported on the strike's second anniversary that customers could still buy, charge and repair its cars despite the campaign.

For IF Metall, the central objective remains unmet: the company has not signed, the industrial action is ending, and no members remain in the conflict to keep it alive.

The archive photograph.jpg) shows a 2017 Sydney Tesla chassis, not the Swedish industrial action, and is used under a CC licence.

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