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Across Sweden, around 70 automotive mechanics continue to confront among the world's wealthiest corporations – Tesla. The labor strike targeting the US automaker's ten Swedish service centers has now entered two years of duration, and there is minimal sign of a settlement.

Janis Kuzma has been at the Tesla picket line since October 2023.

"It has been a difficult period," states the worker in his late thirties. And as Sweden's chilly seasonal conditions sets in, it's likely to grow even tougher.

The mechanic devotes every start of the week alongside a fellow worker, positioned outside a Tesla garage within an industrial park in Malmö. The labor organization, IF Metall, supplies accommodation via a portable construction vehicle, plus coffee and light meals.

But it's operations continue normally across the road, where the service facility seems to be in full swing.

This industrial action concerns an issue that goes to the core of Swedish labor traditions – the authority for worker organizations to bargain for pay & conditions on behalf of their workforce. This principle of negotiated labor contracts has supported labor dynamics in Sweden for nearly a century.

Currently some seventy percent of Scandinavia's employees are members to labor organizations, while 90% are covered by a collective agreement. Strikes in Sweden occur infrequently.

This is a system supported by all parties. "We prefer the right to bargain directly with the unions and establish labor contracts," says Mattias Dahl from the Association of Swedish Businesses business organization.

But Tesla has upset the apple cart. Outspoken CEO Elon Musk has stated he "opposes" with the concept of unions. "I just disapprove of anything which creates a sort of hierarchical situation," he informed listeners at an event last year. "I think labor groups attempt to create conflict in a company."

The automaker entered the Scandinavian market back in the mid-2010s, and the metalworkers' union has for years sought to establish a labor contract with the automaker.

"Yet they did not reply," states Marie Nilsson, the organization's president. "And we got the belief that they tried to hide away or not discuss this with our representatives."

She says the union eventually found no other option than to announce industrial action, beginning in late October, last year. "Typically it's enough to issue the threat," says Ms Nilsson. "The company usually signs the agreement."

But this did not happen on this occasion.

Janis Kuzma, originally from Latvia, started working with the automaker several years ago. He asserts that pay and work terms were often dependent on the whim of managers.

He remembers an evaluation meeting at which he states he was denied an annual pay rise on grounds that he "failing to meet company targets". Meanwhile, a coworker was said to have been rejected for increased compensation because he had an "inappropriate demeanor".

However, some workers went out in the industrial action. The company had approximately one hundred thirty mechanics working when the strike was called. The union says that today approximately seventy of its members are on strike.

Tesla has since substituted these with replacement staff, for which that has not occurred since the 1930s.

"The company has done it [found replacement staff] openly and systematically," states German Bender, an analyst at Arena Idé, a policy organization financed by Scandinavian labor organizations.

"It is not against the law, which is important to understand. However it violates all traditional norms. But the company shows no concern about norms.

"They aim to become norm breakers. Thus when anyone tells them, hey, you are breaking a standard, they see that as praise."

The company's local division refused attempts for interview via correspondence mentioning "all-time high deliveries".

In fact, the automaker has given only one press discussion during the entire period since the industrial action began.

Earlier this year, the local division's "country lead", Jens Stark, told a financial publication that it suited the company better not to have a union contract, and instead "to work closely with the team and provide workers optimal terms".

Mr Stark denied that the choice to avoid a labor contract was one made by US leadership in the US. "Our division possesses authorization to take our own such choices," he stated.

The union is not completely alone in its fight. The strike has received backing from several of other unions.

Port workers in nearby Scandinavian nations, Nordic countries & neighboring states, decline to handle the company's vehicles; rubbish is no longer collected from Tesla's Scandinavian locations; while newly built charging stations are not being linked to power networks across the nation.

Exists an example near the capital's airport, where 20 chargers stand idle. But a Tesla enthusiast, the leader of enthusiasts group the Swedish Tesla association, states Tesla owners are unaffected by the strike.

"There's an alternative power point 10km from this location," he comments. "And we can still purchase vehicles, we can service our vehicles, we can charge our electric cars."

With consequences significant on both sides, it is difficult to envision a resolution to the deadlock. IF Metall risks setting a precedent should it surrender the fundamental concept of collective agreement.

"The concern is that that would spread," says Mr Bender, "and ultimately {erode