Sweden’s postal service refuses to deliver mail to Tesla, including license plates, as part of a growing European strike against the automaker
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Tesla is suing two state agencies in Sweden over their participation in a strike that started in its service centers. It claims that the actions are unprecedented and illegal for government agencies, and demands that they allow it to pick up license plates for its customers.
The Swedish Transport Agency and the country’s leading postal service, Postnord, have become embroiled in a strike led by IF Metall, a union representing mechanics in the Scandinavian country. The automaker has refused to sign a collective agreement with its employees there, breaking with national labor practices.
Since then, numerous unions have also taken action against the automaker, out of sympathy for the mechanics. Among them, Postnord has refused to deliver mail or packages addressed to or from Tesla in the country.
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What is really upsetting Tesla is that it is no longer receiving license plates or documents for its customers’ vehicles, reports Dagens Industri. Although the Swedish Transport Agency is technically still issuing the licensing information, it says it can only use Postnord to deliver documents, due to an existing framework agreement.
Read: Everyone Seems To Be Striking Against Tesla In Sweden As Postal Workers Join In Too
“Through this unprecedented action, the Swedish Transport Agency has become a deeply harmful instrument in the labor market conflict, which affects Tesla and, above all, it affects Tesla’s employees and customers,” the automaker’s Swedish subsidiary wrote in its legal complaint, as translated by Google.
It demanded last week that the court fine the agency 1 million kroner ($95,491 USD at current exchange rates). In addition, it wants to be able to pick up the plates and documents from the agency itself, while the case is tried.
In addition, the automaker has filed a lawsuit against Postnord Sweden, demanding that the court compel it to deliver its mail. The parcel service has argued that its right to strike counts as force majeure, allowing it to pause shipments to Tesla without violating its social mission. However, Tesla argues that force majeure is not regulated in its agreement with Postnord, so it is wrong to use it as a justification here.
“Postnord has taken an active decision to baselessly decide that ‘force majeure’ would exist and thus deliberately made itself a harmful instrument in the labor market conflict,” Tesla wrote. “This action is so remarkable that it is unprecedented in Swedish labor market history.”
Again, Tesla is looking for a judge to compel Postnord to deliver packages to it. However, even if the automaker gets its wish, that may not be the end of its troubles. On Friday, members of the IF Metall union at Hydro Extrusions in Norway announced that they would stop making crucial parts for the automaker.
The company is the only supplier of specialized aluminum alloy components in Europe, which go into Tesla vehicles produced in Germany, reports AN. It has become the first supplier to announce that its members will put down their tools in protest against the automaker’s refusal to sign a collective agreement with Sweden’s mechanics.
