Elon Musk calls Tesla strike in Sweden 'insane' as 9 unions target company, leaving cars without license plates

A Tesla S car sits in the window of a Tesla store in Göteborg, Sweden. Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images

• Elon Musk called a growing wave of strikes against Tesla in Sweden ‘insane.’
• The strikes began in late October, when the trade union IF Metall announced a walkout.
• The union representing postal service workers have joined in solidarity, meaning no new license plates for Tesla cars.

Elon Musk called a mounting wave of strikes against Tesla in Sweden “insane” as unions continue to pressure the electric carmaker to sign a collective bargaining agreement with its mechanics.

The labor battle began on October 27, when mechanics in the Swedish union IF Metall walked out.

The union is seeking a collective agreement on wages and benefits for the approximately 120 employees who work at Tesla’s Swedish service facilities, saying it wants “the same decent and safe working conditions at the members at other similar companies in Sweden.”

Eight other unions have since joined the strike in solidarity with IF Metall.

In the latest move, Swedish postal services joined the strikes, dealing what could be a major setback. Their sympathy strike means that new Tesla cars won’t receive any license plates — signaling an impending pause on new car registrations in an important market for the company.

“This is insane,” Musk wrote on X, formerly Twitter, early Thursday.

Earlier in November, dockworkers at dozens of ports in Sweden refused to unload cars from ships, and electricians ceased repair work at Tesla’s charging stations. Unions representing cleaners have also stopped work at Tesla facilities.

“It is both important and obvious that we help, to stand up for the collective agreement and the Swedish labor market model,” the Swedish Transport Workers’ Union, whose members work at the docks, said in a statement.

Tesla is facing pressure from its other factories, too. In Germany, where the automaker produces its Model Y cars at its Berlin gigafactory, where union leaders have sought to organize the roughly 11,500 employees.

Musk gave the Berlin gigafactory workers a 4% pay raise amid the mounting pressures.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.