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Tesla sues Swedish state agency over number plate blockage
- frosting1337 3y ago[flagged]
- wendyshu 3y ago[flagged]
- favorited 3y agoWhy should workers care about such an inefficiency? Without worker solidarity, increased efficiency only enables their bosses to extract more value from their surplus labor.
- wendyshu 3y agoWe all, to some extent, do selfish things that on average make everyone worse off. You might call it greed. I'm just surprised to see people publicly approving of it.
- favorited 3y agoBut why is this so-called "greed" less acceptable than the "greed" of owners/investors, who want everything be as efficient as possible for their own benefit? Strong organized labor is how we accomplish "inefficiencies" like paid leave, regular breaks, safety standards, etc.
- cycomanic 3y ago> Labor monopolies are inefficient, it's extremely basic economics. You mean unlike capital 'monopolies', i.e. corporations? Why?
- wendyshu 3y agoTesla isn't a monopoly seller, or a monopsony labor buyer.
- financltravsty 3y agoI don't think people were born to grow the economy and shareholders' bank accounts. Also, "whacky" is British English. But you could make an argument that "tech bros" become "whacky" when they start going full Pinkerton.
- frosting1337 3y ago[flagged]
- ryzvonusef 3y agoFrom what I understand, actual tesla employees/contractors in Sweden are not interested in forming a union (they like the American shares model, I suppose), it's all the other unions forcing Tesla to have its employees form one, because how the minimum wage/collective bargaining system works in the nordics. I understand that the other unions see this as the thin end of the wedge, if they allow Tesla to not form one, then others might follow and the scandanavian socio-capitalist system might fall. But I don't if we should blame Swedish Tesla employees wanting to profit from stonks.
- Dah00n 3y agoAs a few here wrote would happen: Danish unions are now getting in on the action.
- jruohonen 3y agoInteresting that they're suing the state and not the labor union.
- Hikikomori 3y agoWhat would they sue the union for?
- jruohonen 3y agoIt seems complicated because there are multiple unions involved in the strike. If I've understood correctly, the big union (IF Metall) and Tesla have clashed over wage bargaining, but now a supporting strike involves also the employees working on the number plates.
- cool_dude85 3y agoThis situation seems to involve the union/unions responsible for mail delivery, who refuse to deliver packages from Tesla, and by law all plates must be sent via mail.
- galangalalgol 3y agoSo the suit relates to the state enforced monopoly on license delivery? That I suppose makes more sense, but I can also see the argument that the license is an official document and hence must be delivered by official mail. Something vaguely similar is playing out in Texas. Paper plates are now illegal, and not without good reason (widely forged), but in the context of other laws passed at the same time it seems aimed at tesla. Tesla has no dealerships, it has been said dealerships don't work well with EVs because the lack of maintenance which sustains a dealership. In Texas you are required to have a dealership to sell cars. Briefly Tesla was going to transport the vehicles in TX to the new Mexico border and back before delivering them to buyers. Some accomodations were made to prevent that, but now the way to get plates in the absence of paper ones from the government is... Dealerships are allowed to keep plates on trade ins to put on new cars as temporary plates.
- jjgreen 3y agoNot such a good idea to have a Tesla facility in your country then.
- kamranjon 3y agoOr maybe not such a great idea for Tesla to build one if they intended to take advantage of workers without repercussions?
- wendyshu 3y agoDefine "take advantage of"
- InCityDreams 3y ago...not allowing collective bargaining, for one.
- nxm 3y agoNo one takes advantage of them.
- larsnystrom 3y agoI have zero insight into how Tesla workers are treated here in Sweden, but it’s important to note that Sweden doesn’t even have a minimum wage law (it has been directly opposing such rules on an EU-level as well) because this should be negotiated between workers (unions) and employers. If Tesla continues to operate in Sweden without a collective agreement this model will break down.
- rsynnott 3y agoThe only time Musk can stop digging is when it is for an imaginary car tunnel.
- fwsgonzo 3y agoThe Swedish Transport Agency says they are only able to ship license plates using PostNord according to regulation, so I'm not sure how exactly Tesla thought they were going to win this lawsuit.
- paulddraper 3y agoThey've already won an injunction.
- kruxigt 3y ago[dead]
- jesperlang 3y agoTesla is trying any means necessary since they know that Swedish labour laws are strong: if they do not have a union agreement, workers are allowed to strike (indefinitely). This vacuum we are now in is probably very costly for Tesla so I at this point I think it is an ideological/personal battle..
- ornornor 3y agoGood, I’m rooting for the people. Tesla (and others) are blatantly ignoring human decency and social contracts in the pursuit of their founder’s greed. This must stop. I’m glad Sweden has strong enough labour unions to battle this at scale and head on, unlike most other countries where it’s too easy for corporations to exploit workers with little to be repercussions other than the occasional drop in the bucket settlement and massive profits.
- kmlx 3y ago> This vacuum we are now in is probably very costly for Tesla i would assume the nordic markets are tiny compared to the RoW. does anyone here have any data on revenue from those markets for tesla?
- iepathos 3y agoSure do, https://www.statista.com/outlook/mmo/passenger-cars/tesla/sweden https://www.statista.com/outlook/mmo/passenger-cars/tesla/sw... sweden is $629m annually for tesla out of Tesla's $26b total annual revenue.
- 7645337557 3y ago[flagged]
- paganel 3y ago[flagged]
- dukeyukey 3y agoWhy would the Swedish military care if Tesla can or cannot receive licence plates fast enough?
- paganel 3y agoBecause with the Russian subs just off the cost of Gotland things might get complicated. Also, Finland is already complaining that Russia is weaponising immigrants, so much so that they've closed 7 out of 8 border posts they have with Russia (if I got the numbers right), and seeing how the problem of immigrants is a very delicate one for Sweden (and for many other Western countries generally speaking) the Swedish people holding the monopoly of violence might think twice when it comes to this trade unions issue.
- ceejayoz 3y ago> Because with the Russian subs just off the cost of Gotland things might get complicated. What are you darkly hinting at here? Russia's not going to attack Sweden because Tesla can't get license plates, and NATO's not going to pick Musk over Sweden.
- rsynnott 3y agoAre you suggesting that Tesla in some way controls the Russian military? I mean, as conspiracy theories go it has the benefit of being original, I suppose.
- dukeyukey 3y agoI still don't see how any of that concerns Tesla's supply of licence plates or relations with labour unions.
- svrtknst 3y agoSo you're supposing that Musk will use his influence with american politicians to threaten Sweden with revoked NATO membership? ok
- defrost 3y agoFrom the article linked: "This confiscation of license plates constitutes a discriminatory attack without any support in law directed at Tesla," the American electric car giant wrote in documents submitted to the Norrköping district court on Monday seen by the Dagens industri newspaper. From the European Public Service Union The right to strike in [..] Sweden: Blockades and boycotts are widely used by trade unions in sympathy strikes or secondary action. Pursuant to the Co-determination Act, any sympathy strike undertaken in support of lawful primary collective action is also considered lawful. https://www.epsu.org/sites/default/files/article/files/Sweden%20-%20Right%20to%20strike%20in%20public%20sector.pdf https://www.epsu.org/sites/default/files/article/files/Swede... Dockworkers and postal workers in both Sweden and Norway are refusing service to Tesla because Tesla has refused to discuss collective bargaining for five years.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- kmlx 3y agowhile this comment is true, not sure what it has to do with the article. from my understanding tesla is actually suing the state because there’s a law saying license plates can only be delivered via post. and the postal workers refuse to deliver anything to tesla (which seems a bit crazy considering there are laws about using the postal services). but maybe i misunderstood something, so someone can correct me if i’m wrong.
- ceejayoz 3y agoThe point is that the law explicitly permits the postal union to do this. Tesla's suit is probably going nowhere.
- brandonagr2 3y agohttps://techcrunch.com/2023/11/27/sweden-sides-with-tesla-says-transport-agency-must-deliver-plates-or-pay-up/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/27/sweden-sides-with-tesla-sa... "Norrköping district court said the agency must find a way to get the plates to Tesla within seven days or pay a fine of 1 million Swedish crowns (~$96,000)."
- r0ckarong 3y agoLooks like the counter to "fuck your rules" has always been: "ok so no more commerce with you".
- TheChaplain 3y agoRules? Collective agreements are entirely voluntary, by law. What is happening is that the union is using connected companies to force Tesla to sign a collective agreement. Employees are not prohibited from joining the union themselves, they are protected by law and Tesla can not stop them nor fire them for it. From what I've read, the employees are quite happy as it is, and a collective agreement would actually make thing worse as it puts some restrictions on the relation between employer/employee. Also not that Sweden is not US, there are a bunch of laws that protects workers, no matter if they are in a union or not.
- xhubin 3y ago>and a collective agreement would actually make thing worse as it puts some restrictions on the relation between employer/employee. The collective agreement puts 0 restrictions, it's essentially just a form of safeguard to protect employees from abuse. They can still have higher salaries, bonuses, longer vacations etc.
- ceejayoz 3y ago> What is happening is that the union is using connected companies to force Tesla to sign a collective agreement. Which the rules permit. Being stubborn and winding up in the middle of a multi-union sympathy strike is similarly "entirely voluntary, by law".
- TheChaplain 3y agoInteresting choice of word. If the employees are not interested, the employer is not interested, yet they are forced to do something they do not want (and which is voluntary, again by law) then it's not being "stubborn".
- tyingq 3y agoI had wondered whether "sympathy strikes" would have some effect here about a month ago[1]. Looks like it did. Though I wouldn't have guessed this pretty genius angle of blocking the only contractual way to get number plates. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37916074 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37916074
- diego_sandoval 3y agoI don't know if "genius" is the word. It doesn't seem that creative, it's just nasty.
- tyingq 3y agoIt currently seems smarter than trying to use non-union mechanics in a country where the vast majority of mechanics are unionized.
- abc123abc123 3y ago3 Chapter 1:st paragraph in the law concering postal delivery in sweden. Postnord has an obligation to deliver mail. Interesting to see what will rank higher in court. The postal law or the right to strikes.
- danpalmer 3y agoSeems very likely the strike action will win out, otherwise there's no effective route to strike action from postal workers. Whether they aren't allowed to strike or Postnord is allowed to bring in non-union workers, both would neutralise any strike effectiveness, and given Sweden's strong labour laws it seems unlikely that would be the case. Another way of looking at it is that Postnord is not refusing as a policy to deliver mail, and that's probably what the legal obligation is around. It's just that their employees are striking so mail isn't currently being delivered. The same happens in the UK, Royal Mail are obligated to deliver to every address, but that doesn't stop there being strikes.
- Jensson 3y ago> and given Sweden's strong labour laws it seems unlikely that would be the case Sweden doesn't have strong labour laws, Sweden just doesn't regulate union power that much. Unions are extremely powerful entities with no regulations so you have to limit it a bit, just like you have to limit the power of private corporations. If a private corporation could block your access to essential government services then that would be a big problem, the same applies to unions. The government is supposed to be impartial in this case, a union shouldn't be allowed to block essential government services.
- M95D 3y ago> Unions are extremely powerful entities with no regulations so you have to limit it a bit Why? > just like you have to limit the power of private corporations. Not the same thing. Unions act in the interest of their members and even other workers non-members. Corporations act in the interest of their shareholders, against workers (lower salary => profit) and ordinary citizens (polution, monopoly, prices, lower quality => all profit). Or maybe you are not interested in all that? > If a private corporation could block your access to essential government services then that would be a big problem Like how my internet service provider could (if they wanted to) block my access to government sites? Yes. True. Big problem. But they can. Right now, they can. > the same applies to unions But they only block it for a company, a specific company. Why should companies be treated like natural persons? > The government is supposed to be impartial in this case Wrong. So wrong I'm shocked anyone could say this. Are you paid to troll? Did you ever hear of a concept called "DEMOCRACY"? Goverments should act in the interest of their citizens (who voted!), not be impartial to citizens vs. corporations. More than that they should be impartial and act for the good of ALL their citizens, not doing favors to Tesla customers who didn't receive their toy before Christmas.
- mrtksn 3y ago[flagged]
- ceejayoz 3y agoComplains about "blatant media manipulation", cites teslarati.com quoting "Tesla Club Sweden". Read the top-level HN comments on that thread.
- reportingsjr 3y agoTeslarati is a notoriously horrible blog. It's been banned from a lot of Tesla subreddits if that tells you anything.
- karles 3y agoWelcome to Scandinavia! We hope you enjoy your stay.
- jjgreen 3y agoTack!
- belltaco 3y agoThey're enjoying the stay, they just won in court. The court just ordered the agency to hand over the license plates to Tesla within a week. https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/domstol-teslas-registreringsskyltar-ska-lamnas-ut--lsx0rk https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/domstol-teslas-registreri...
- karles 3y agoLicense plates? Fuck that. This is about all the mechanics at their facilities. I think Tesla underestimates just how big a role Unions play in Nordic countries. Give them their license plates - who cares. The Union(s) of the mechanics will strike for 500 years if they have to.
- Hikikomori 3y agoJudge ordered temporary relief, it's not a final decision. Workers at the factory are also part of a union, so they may refuse to hand any plates out. EDIT: And only Teslas side has been heard in court.
- alistairSH 3y agoLicense plates go to the manufacturer only? How does that work when a used car is sold between individuals? In the US, I don’t need the manufacturer (or dealer) to get a plate - I just go to the DMV on my own.
- Hamuko 3y agoYou don't need to deal with license plates when you buy a used car? If the car is registered for road traffic, it'll have a set of plates with it.
- alistairSH 3y agoNot in the US - plates stay with the owner (or get returned to the local DMV) when a car is sold. Sounds like Sweden is the opposite - plates move with the car. Which sort of makes more sense to me. Except most of the cars I've owned have come from out-of-state, so I'd need new plates anyways (plates are issued at the state level, not national in the US).
- yencabulator 3y agoFor what it's worth, plates go with the car in many US states too.
- piva00 3y agoYou don't own the plates and transfer them between cars in Sweden, they are sold with the licence plates, and they will be on the car until it gets scrapped. The only exception is for "personal plates" which are customised plates that work as an alias to the car's registered plate (the one attached to the car's VIN), those can be moved to a new car when its VIN is registered to a normal registration plate.
- dajoh 3y agoWhy is this article at rank 324 (page 11) on the front page when it was posted 1 hour ago, has 33 points, and 70 comments currently. There's stuff on page 1 of the frontpage with 25 points, posted 8 hours ago, and has 5 comments.
- robin_reala 3y agoThere’s a ratio of comments to upvotes that triggers a flamewar nerf. In this case, there are double as may comments as upvotes.
- yread 3y agoPeople are tired of Tesla articles so they more often flag them. Flags bring articles down. These articles do often lead to flames so it's not without merit.
- matsemann 3y agoSV / VCs dont like unionization talk.
- tmikaeld 3y agoWhat if Tesla just pulled out of the country? Who's worst off? Sweden: - Loss of jobs, I don't know how many. (But the workers would prob. be quite bitter, they earned more with Tesla shops than standard shops) - May be bad for Swedish investments, since a union deal would now be mandatory. - Less electric cars, less good for the environment. - € ~100M/year in tax lost from sales. Tesla: - Loosing € ~350M/year (10K Sold cars/year, most sold Model 3)
- Dah00n 3y agoThen they'll likely need to pull out of all of Scandinavia. There's already talk of sympathy strikes in both Norway and Denmark.
- Hikikomori 3y agoGermany where they have a factory doesn't seem far behind the rest of Scandinavia.
- einr 3y ago- Loss of jobs, I don't know how many. (But the workers would prob. be quite bitter, they earned more with Tesla shops than standard shops) According to IF Metall, Tesla employees earn less than the average in the "Motorbranschavtalet" -- the collective agreement they should have. - May be bad for Swedish investments, since a union deal would now be mandatory. Nine out of ten Swedes already have jobs covered by union collective agreements. Most of the ones who are not under an agreement work in smaller companies. It is almost unheard of for a company the size of Tesla to refuse. This has been the situation for decades and we have plenty of investments, so this Tesla clownshow changes nothing. - Less electric cars, less good for the environment. There are plenty of other brands who would very much like to take the spot of Tesla's 5th largest market in the world and Sweden's #1 selling car (Tesla Model Y). - € ~100M/year in tax lost from sales. Again, plenty of other more respectable brands out there that we can buy instead. Tesla is free to keep digging their own grave, Sweden will be doing just fine.
- mytailorisrich 3y agoIt is odd that Tesla went to Sweden only to make such a fuss over local customs. On the other hand what's going on does not show Sweden in a particularly positive light, either IMHO. At this point everyone loses but it doesn't seem likely that unions will back down.
- Hikikomori 3y agoThe Nordic federation of transport unions has announced their support of IF Metall, the sympathy strikes could spread to other countries https://www.transportarbetaren.se/brett-stod-i-tesla-konflikt/ https://www.transportarbetaren.se/brett-stod-i-tesla-konflik...
- atoav 3y agoLol. What. I am not that familiar with workers rights in Sweden, but it would surprise me if this would be able to go anywhere meaningful. Sounds more like somebody is butthurt that the typical "downgrade your workers rights or I'll move my business elsewhere"-strat didn't work out.
- jacquesm 3y agoThe hubris is just off the scale. How about you simply follow the law. How hard can it be, if the Chinese can manufacture cars in Sweden then so can Americans.
- parl_match 3y agoTesla is not breaking the law. This is a labor action, and considering Europe's general tenor on labor relations, this lawsuit is going to be a hilarious mistake.
- brandonagr2 3y agoWas it a mistake? They already won a preliminary injuction that the government must let them pick up the license plates https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/27/sweden-sides-with-tesla-says-transport-agency-must-deliver-plates-or-pay-up/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/27/sweden-sides-with-tesla-sa...
- jacquesm 3y agoThey are breaking the law. They have (repeatedly) threatened strikers that they would take away their options which is how they managed to match compensation to begin with so this is very much a legal issue as well. That's why so many sympathy strikes broke out. What Tesla execs need to realize is that the world isn't North America and that different countries have different relationships between labor and management. If they don't want that they should move their manufacturing out of the EU and live with the tariffs. edit: apparently it's worse than just stock: https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/17l46ho/comment/k7dcm3p/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/17l46ho/c... Also mentioned is holidays and insurance. It would be nice to find the original Swedish article. The funny thing is that they may well win this suit and it will only backfire because it should have never come this far. So the workers will pick up even more sympathy. It's affecting their supply lines as well now.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago>They are breaking the law. Wait, I'm super confused by this. If they really are breaking the law why isn't the government shutting them down instead of the unions striking? Isn't that the job of the government, to make sure every company follows the law? In my country, if you don't follow the law, the government institutions don't even let you open up shop, the unions are only there to negociate yearly wage increases, but following the law is a must and a given from the start. If you're a company and don't follow the law you get inspections, lawsuits and fines from the state institutions. So how is Tesla even operation in Sweden without following the law in the first place? It feels like there's apiece of context missing here.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- rhcom2 3y agoI almost respect that Tesla actually filed something instead of more empty Musk lawsuit threats.
- mytailorisrich 3y agoI am not familiar with Swedish law but I doubt it is legal to refuse to distribute mail whether at service provider level or at employee level. At employee level it would be for Postnord to take action but at service provider level (Postnord) then maybe (?) they have a point that the state/regulator should intervene. Now, if on the other hand what is happening is perfectly legal then perhaps the famed Swedish model has gone too far...
- uxp8u61q 3y ago[flagged]
- brandonagr2 3y agohttps://techcrunch.com/2023/11/27/sweden-sides-with-tesla-says-transport-agency-must-deliver-plates-or-pay-up/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/27/sweden-sides-with-tesla-sa... "Norrköping district court said the agency must find a way to get the plates to Tesla within seven days or pay a fine of 1 million Swedish crowns (~$96,000)."
- mytailorisrich 3y agoAre you telling me that refusing to distribute mail is legal in Sweden? In most, if not all EU countries that would not be on several levels as per my previous comment. So please at least try to write something substantive... Edit: In fact it looks like this is indeed a breach of at least EU law: "The universal service obligation (USO) is the core of the Postal Services Directive (97/67/EC, amended by Directives 2002/39/EC and 2008/6/EC). This is the requirement that letters and parcels should be delivered to each home or business premises, on 5 days each week, throughout each EU country (with exemptions)."
- xkbarkar 3y agoLawsuit is about the state telling postnord a mail delivery company, to not deliver licence plates in some weitd sympathy action. Tesla won the suit and the licence plates have to be delivered. https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/Mo0V85/tesla-far-ut-sina-registreringsskyltar https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/Mo0V85/tesla-far-ut-sin...
- 3836293648 3y agoTesla has NOT won the suit. They got a preliminary injunction and the actual suit hasn't started
- supergirl 3y ago> (translated) They approve the interim request. They say that the Swedish Transport Agency must give consent for Tesla to pick up the license plates from the manufacturer of license plates. they will not be delivered. Tesla was allowed to pick them up.
- Hikikomori 3y agoTesla sued Transportstyrelsen, not the postal service, the state is not telling Postnord not to deliver, its the union. They won an interim injunction likely arguing that their business would be hurt short term. The other side has not been heard yet and there's been no judgement.
- mrpopo 3y agoTesla was granted a temporary measure to deliver the licence plates until the lawsuit*
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- McDyver 3y agoI suppose this is about the physical license plates, that can't be held at postnord - maybe very specific for being license plates. The next step will be at transportstyrelsen they will just strike and refuse to issue the license plates. No license plates issued, none to be delivered
- pcdevils 3y agoGood. Let them make a fool of themselves in court. Tesla wont be happy till every country treats it's employees like disposable garbage, just like in the US.
- convery 3y agoGiven that they just won a preliminary judgement, they don't seem too foolish..
- hutzlibu 3y agoThey won the right to pick up the plates themself, but not what they wanted to force the workers to serve them.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- wendyshu 3y agoIf they're treated like garbage, why don't they quit?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- financltravsty 3y agoAsk that to an Amazon warehouse or a 3rd world factory worker. Quit and do what? Starve? Become homeless? Destroy the little of what is left of your family's stability? Lose access to treatment of your health condition(s)? Die? Perhaps if there was some way to survive in this world without relying on a greater force to put a roof over your head and bread on your table, then anyone could quit without being compelled to stay with the lesser suffering.
- mxsjoberg 3y agoblame the unions
- bjornsing 3y agoAnd they won [1]! At least an interim decision forcing the government to let Tesla collect new license plates from the manufacturer. 1. https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/domstol-teslas-registreringsskyltar-ska-lamnas-ut--lsx0rk https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/domstol-teslas-registreri...
- AniseAbyss 3y ago[dead]
- TheMagicHorsey 3y agoOn a related note, I think you have to consider very carefully whether or not you can manufacture in Sweden. For some companies like Teenage Engineering, Elektron, etc.,it can make a lot of sense as your labor cost is such a small fraction of the total value of the product. But if you are in some kind of competitive market where the labor cost has the potential to erase your margins (and therefore return on the project investment) then I don't think it makes sense in this globalized economy to base in Sweden. Where do electric vehicles fall on this spectrum? I don't know TBH. I would suspect the Model S and Model X it doesn't matter really ... but say for batteries or the Model 3 ... maybe Sweden is a bad choice. The Chinese are very smart about how they base their manufacturing. Tesla should be smarter too. You can't just get around 50 years of labor interests. And paying workers a lot is not enough ... labor interests want more than just high pay ... there's lots of other restrictions and controls on what you can do. You have to let them control how labor works in your plants. You can't just innovate on process however you like if you are at large scale. That's how Europe works. Everything is slow and deliberate with a pace that runs over decades or sometimes generations. You can't just fire/hire/automate/reconfigure on the fly as you evolve processes. Go to China or Texas if you need that.
- eastbound 3y agoYou say decades, but we don’t know whether it works over decades. For all I know, France is famous for strikes and we’ve lost all manufacturing. Almost all of Europe lost that, and it’s not like we’re good at startups either, we make some (heavily public-funded) and not even appear near the top #100 startups. I don’t even remember meeting a single factory worker for the last ten years. Even ports: All of Marseille went on hard-core strikes, now it’s all done in Rotterdam. France is famous for the Saint Congés Payés in 1936, well, if we didn’t dance that much, maybe the Germans wouldn’t have invaded us like a walk in a park. We can’t say that works over decades when all industries have fled (and I say fled, like one flees a socialist country, when factory managers were subdued into a cave and beaten up until they signed personnel agreements in the 1990).
- einr 3y agoBut if you are in some kind of competitive market where the labor cost has the potential to erase your margins (and therefore return on the project investment) then I don't think it makes sense in this globalized economy to base in Sweden. Where do electric vehicles fall on this spectrum? I don't know TBH. I would suspect the Model S and Model X it doesn't matter really ... but say for batteries or the Model 3 ... maybe Sweden is a bad choice. https://northvolt.com/manufacturing/ett/ https://northvolt.com/manufacturing/ett/
- susano 3y agoNot overly knowledgeable on Swedish law, but the idea that a public sector union can decide to block public services (in this case postal delivery of license plates) for a single company as a sympathy strike seems pretty nuts to me. Pretty sure Sweden would lose in European court at least (of course it would probably take a long time to percolate there).
- aaomidi 3y agoThis is actually democracy in action. Worker unions are a lot better at making the voices of workers heard and actuated on.
- david38 3y agoNot sure you know what democracy is. Tesla is required by law to use the post to get plates. This invalidates the whole premise.
- cinntaile 3y agoWhat is undemocratic about a law in a democratic country? They can pick up their plates themselves for now, the lawsuit will decide what the law says.
- okr 3y agoMaybe being able to pick any other company to make the plates? For god sake, it is just a plate. A simple piece of metal with some letters on it to make everyone happy with traceability.
- cinntaile 3y agoGovernment contracts need to fulfill very specific rules to prevent conflicts of interest. This one company one that bid and is now responsible for that. If you want it any other way, the law needs to be changed and that is again a democratic process.