Tesla mechanics in Sweden are striking to get the US automaker to negotiate a collective wage agreement. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT / TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP/File
The first stage of the strike affected some 130 mechanics at 10 Tesla workshops in seven cities of across Sweden, according to trade union IF Metall. On Friday, the strike was expanded to include some 470 more workers at another 17 facilities that service many brands of vehicles where a"blockade" on repairing Teslaare going to work as usual and carry out their tasks on other car models, but they don't service Tesla specifically during the conflict," IF Metall union spokesman Jesper Pettersson told AFP.
Negotiated sector-by-sector, collective agreements are the basis of the Swedish labour market model, covering almost 90 percent of all Swedish employees and guaranteeing standard wages and working conditions.Last week IF Metall -- which has some 300,000 members -- told AFP that"many" of Tesla's workers in Sweden are members of IF Metall, but would not disclose an exact number.