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He probably said quite a bit more than just that. If you extract just one sentence from somebody's position, you can make anyone look ridiculous. Looking at th
by jillesvangurp 3y ago
He probably said quite a bit more than just that. If you extract just one sentence from somebody's position, you can make anyone look ridiculous.
Looking at this from a distance and without picking sides, I can see both sides have a point and a bigger agenda. The actual conflict seems like it is a sideshow to this bigger agenda.
In Scandinavia the unions are historically very strong. Strong as in they are mostly socialist leaning countries where the socialists have set policies for decades backed by very strong unions that dictate how companies operate. Not just Tesla, all companies. The message is fall in line, or else we'll cripple your company. And it's a message not just to Tesla but to all companies.
One little problem though, Sweden doesn't actually have a socialist government currently. Neither does Denmark. And Norway has a minority socialist government coalition. So, socialists are fresh out of power all over Scandinavia and struggling a bit. Also as Tesla workers aren't unionized. These unions aren't representing those workers directly. This is part of their grudge. So, unions feel a need to assert themselves and reclaim some power. And they are using Tesla to do it. Perfect company for fanning the outrage a little and Elon Musk is always happy to offend anyone with incendiary statements. But you have to see it for what this is: political posturing by the unions.
With Tesla the agenda is that they are a multinational and they are investing billions world wide in creating giga-factories and lots of employment and they are looking to get the best deals for this. Governments are lobbying them heavily for being the next giga factory site. So, what's the signal Elon Musk is giving off with to those governments by doing this in Sweden? Get the unions of my back if you want my money. So, he's happy to let this escalate a little. It works wonders elsewhere. The big picture for him is getting favorable conditions to build his next giga factory elsewhere in Europe. The Swedish are just pawns in that game. My guess is he'll ultimately fold in some way to keep the Scandinavian market going. But forget about a Swedish giga-factory happening.
- qarl 3y ago> He probably said quite a bit more than just that. Yes, this is also the conversation where he said "Go fuck yourself. Go. Fuck. Yourself."
- jamespo 3y agoUnions getting the best deal for their workers is "political posturing"?
- dybber 3y ago> One little problem though, Sweden doesn't actually have a socialist government currently. Neither does Denmark. And Norway has a minority socialist government coalition. So, socialists are fresh out of power all over Scandinavia and struggling a bit. The Danish prime minister is from the social democrat party.
- peterfirefly 3y agoIt's a coalition government. The Foreign Minister is from a freshly minted party that he basically owns -- which he created after losing a power struggle back when he was head of the party Venstre. The third party in the coalition is Venstre.
- AnssiH 3y ago> Also as Tesla workers aren't unionized. These unions aren't representing those workers directly. The striking Tesla employees are union members (IF Metall).
- xorcist 3y agoI think you underestimate how much the employer's unions want contract law to be respected. As for the socialist conspiracy theories, they mostly feel out of favor in the 1990s.