Tesla has just about 130 employees in Sweden and does not produce cars there. Yet a growing number of unions have joined the effort to uphold the country’s muscular, hard-fought labor market norms against the U.S. manufacturer’s attempts to evade them. Many fear Tesla, if unchallenged, could set a worrying precedent for foreign firms similarly looking to skirt labor norms. Dockworkers, therefore, have refused to unload Teslas at Swedish ports. Painters have refused to paint Teslas at 53 car-painting companies throughout the country. Unionized employees of the Norwegian company Hydro’s Swedish subsidiary, which has a plant in Southern Sweden, have stopped making parts for Tesla products. On November 20, the postal workers joined in.
Tesla argues that Sweden’s Transport Agency—which makes license plates—has “a constitutional obligation to provide license plates to vehicle owners.” The government, according to Tesla, should allow Tesla to access the plates despite PostNord employees’ refusal to deliver them. The transport agency in turn argued that the plates could only be delivered via PostNord. On Monday, a district court in Norrköping sided with the company, issuing a temporary injunction to require that the agency find another means of getting the plates to Tesla within seven days while the case is being considered. A district court in Solda said on Tuesday that it will take up a separate case filed by Tesla against the postal service. While the court ordered PostNord to respond to Tesla within two weeks, it has denied Tesla’s request to immediately obtain license plates already in PostNord’s possession.