- Tesla workers in Sweden have been on strike since October.
- Mail workers are blocking license plate deliveries in sympathy, so Tesla sued to try to get access.
- A Swedish court ruled against Tesla, and now a fourth country’s union is getting involved.
A Swedish court on Thursday ruled in favor of the ongoing blockade against Tesla after Elon Musk’s company sued to try to stop it, according to Reuters.
Unionized employees of PostNord, Sweden’s mail service, have been refusing to deliver license plates for Teslas in sympathy with Tesla staff on strike.
Since October, the labor union IF Metall has been trying to secure a collective labor agreement for its members who work at Tesla.
It would allow the unions to negotiate wages and working conditions with Tesla. According to The New York Times, around 90% of Sweden’s employees are covered by collective agreements.
Because it’s such a common deal in Nordic countries, nine unions in Sweden plus others in Norway, Denmark, and Finland are backing IF Metall.
In an X post last month, Musk called it “insane.” Four days later, Tesla sued the Sweden’s transport agency, accusing it of unfairly targeting Musk’s company, and demanding access to the license plates, the BBC reported.
On Thursday, a Swedish court ruled that PostNord doesn’t have to deliver license plates to Tesla for the time being, per Reuters.
The same day, Finland’s transportation workers union, AKT, announced sympathy measures against Tesla.
“It is a crucial part of the Nordic labor market model that we have collective agreements and unions support each other,” said AKT President Ismo Kokko.
AKT said that dockworkers will refuse to load Tesla shipments destined for Sweden if the dispute isn’t resolved by December 20.
That’s the same measure announced by a Norwegian union on Wednesday, escalating the pressure on Tesla to reach a deal.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
