By AFP
April 2, 2025
Tesla has been involved in a labour dispute with Swedish unions since 2023
- Copyright AFP Richard A. Brooks
Swedish insurance company Folksam said Wednesday it had given up its $160 million stake in Tesla due to the electric carmaker’s approach to labour rights.
Folksam said that Tesla’s approach to its employees’ rights to unionise was “problematic” given its investment criteria, and that attempts to influence the company as a shareholder had been ineffective.
“Unfortunately, no improvement has been seen and a decision has therefore been taken to divest the holding,” Folksam said in a statement.
Folksam told AFP in an email that the market value of the holdings was about 1.6 billion kronor ($160 million).
The electric carmaker has been involved in a labour dispute with Swedish unions since 2023.
In late October of that year, the metal workers union IF Metall launched a strike against Tesla over its refusal to sign a collective wage agreement, and some 130 mechanics at 10 Tesla repair shops in seven cities walked off the job.
IF Metall then extended the strike to include work on Teslas at other repair shops which served multiple brands.
The strike then grew into a larger conflict between Tesla and almost a dozen unions seeking to protect Sweden’s labour model, including postal workers, dock workers and even spreading to neighbouring Nordic countries.
Negotiated sector by sector, collective agreements with unions are the basis of the Nordic labour market model.
Guaranteeing wages and working conditions, they cover almost 90 percent of all employees in Sweden and 80 percent in Denmark.
Tesla chief Elon Musk has long rejected calls to allow the company’s employees worldwide to unionise.
Musk’s close cooperation with US President Donald Trump has also led to calls for boycotts against Tesla.
Acts of vandalism against charging stations and the brand’s dealerships has increased, while several protests were held on Saturday outside retail locations in North America and Europe.
In Sweden, Tesla sales declined 63.9 percent in March and 55.2 percent in the first three months of the year, according to Mobility Sweden.
Swedish insurance company Folksam said Wednesday it had given up its $160 million stake in Tesla due to the electric carmaker’s approach to labour rights.
Folksam said that Tesla’s approach to its employees’ rights to unionise was “problematic” given its investment criteria, and that attempts to influence the company as a shareholder had been ineffective.
“Unfortunately, no improvement has been seen and a decision has therefore been taken to divest the holding,” Folksam said in a statement.
Folksam told AFP in an email that the market value of the holdings was about 1.6 billion kronor ($160 million).
The electric carmaker has been involved in a labour dispute with Swedish unions since 2023.
In late October of that year, the metal workers union IF Metall launched a strike against Tesla over its refusal to sign a collective wage agreement, and some 130 mechanics at 10 Tesla repair shops in seven cities walked off the job.
IF Metall then extended the strike to include work on Teslas at other repair shops which served multiple brands.
The strike then grew into a larger conflict between Tesla and almost a dozen unions seeking to protect Sweden’s labour model, including postal workers, dock workers and even spreading to neighbouring Nordic countries.
Negotiated sector by sector, collective agreements with unions are the basis of the Nordic labour market model.
Guaranteeing wages and working conditions, they cover almost 90 percent of all employees in Sweden and 80 percent in Denmark.
Tesla chief Elon Musk has long rejected calls to allow the company’s employees worldwide to unionise.
Musk’s close cooperation with US President Donald Trump has also led to calls for boycotts against Tesla.
Acts of vandalism against charging stations and the brand’s dealerships has increased, while several protests were held on Saturday outside retail locations in North America and Europe.
In Sweden, Tesla sales declined 63.9 percent in March and 55.2 percent in the first three months of the year, according to Mobility Sweden.
Tesla sales fall again in Germany amid Musk backlash
By AFP
April 3, 2025
Demonstrators protest at a Tesla service centre in Berlin - Copyright AFP Brendan SMIALOWSKI
Tesla sales plunged again in Germany last month even as the broader electric car market rebounded, data showed Thursday, the latest sign of a growing backlash against billionaire owner Elon Musk.
Just 2,229 of Tesla’s electric vehicles (EVs) were registered in March, about 43 percent fewer compared with the same period last year, the KBA federal transport authority said.
Overall electric vehicle registrations rose 35.5 percent in Germany year-on-year as sales continue to rebound from very low levels seen in early 2024.
Like elsewhere in Europe, EV sales slowed in Germany last year against a weak economic backdrop, with the situation worsened in the region’s biggest auto market by the withdrawal of government subsidies.
Tesla’s sales have been slowing worldwide as Musk faces anger over his role overseeing cuts to the federal workforce in US President Donald Trump’s administration, and due to factory upgrades.
But he has faced particular hostility in Germany after he vocally backed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) — which is shunned by mainstream parties — ahead of February elections.
Some German Tesla drivers have put “I bought this before Elon Went crazy” stickers on their vehicles, Teslas have been targeted in suspected arson attacks in Berlin and Dresden, and protesters have staged demonstrations against the carmaker.
Over the first three months of the year Tesla registrations fell a whopping 62.2 percent compared to the same period in 2024, the KBA said.
Overall in March, the number of new vehicle registrations in Germany fell to 253,497, down 3.9 percent from a year earlier, the latest sign of weakness in the market.
German auto manufacturers are now facing another headache after Trump slapped 25-percent tariffs on car imports into the United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment