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Across Sweden, approximately 70 car mechanics persist to challenge one of the globe's wealthiest companies – the electric vehicle manufacturer. The industrial action at the American carmaker's ten Scandinavian service centers has now reached two years of duration, and there is little indication of a resolution.

One striking worker has remained on the electric car company's protest line since the autumn of 2023.

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

Janis spends every start of the week alongside a colleague, standing near an electric vehicle garage on a business district located in southern Sweden. The labor organization, IF Metall, supplies accommodation via a mobile construction vehicle, plus coffee and light meals.

However it's business as usual nearby, where the workshop seems to operate at full capacity.

This industrial action involves a matter that goes to the heart of Scandinavia's industrial culture – the authority for worker organizations to bargain for pay and working terms representing their workforce. This principle of collective agreement has supported labor dynamics in Sweden for nearly a century.

Today some 70% of Scandinavia's employees belong to labor organizations, while 90% are covered under negotiated labor contracts. Strikes in Sweden are rare.

It's a system welcomed by all parties. "We prefer the ability to negotiate freely with worker representatives and establish collective agreements," states a business representative from the Association of Swedish Enterprise employer group.

However Tesla has disrupted the apple cart. Vocal chief executive Elon Musk has stated he "disagrees" with the concept of labor organizations. "I simply disapprove of any arrangement which creates a kind of hierarchical situation," he informed an audience at an event in 2023. "In my view the unions attempt to create negativity within businesses."

The automaker came to Sweden starting in the mid-2010s, while the metalworkers' union has long wanted to establish a collective agreement with the company.

"But they wouldn't respond," states Marie Nilsson, the organization's leader. "And we got the belief that they attempted to hide away or not discuss this with our representatives."

She says the organization eventually found no other option except to call a strike, beginning on 27 October, 2023. "Usually the threat suffices to make a warning," comments the union leader. "Employers typically agrees to the agreement."

However not on this occasion.

The striking mechanic, who is from Latvia, began employment for Tesla several years ago. He asserts that pay & conditions frequently dependent on the discretion of managers.

He remembers an evaluation meeting where he states he was refused a salary increase on grounds that he "not reaching Tesla's goals". Meanwhile, a colleague was reported to have been rejected for a pay rise due to he had an "inappropriate demeanor".

Nevertheless, not everyone went out in the industrial action. Tesla employed approximately 130 technicians working at the time the strike was initiated. The union says currently approximately 70 of their represented workers are participating in the action.

The automaker has since replaced the striking workers with replacement staff, a situation there is not occurred since the era of the Great Depression.

"The company has accomplished this [found replacement staff] openly & methodically," states a labor researcher, a researcher at a research institute, a think tank supported by Swedish trade unions.

"It's not illegal, which is crucial to understand. But it violates all established practices. But the company shows no concern about norms.

"They aim to be convention challengers. So if anyone informs them, hey, you are violating a norm, they perceive that as praise."

The company's Swedish subsidiary refused requests for interview in an email citing "all-time high deliveries".

In fact, the company has given only one media interview during the entire period since the strike started.

In March 2024, the Swedish subsidiary's "country lead", Jens Stark, told a business paper that it suited the organization more to avoid a collective agreement, and instead "to work closely with employees and provide them the best possible conditions".

The executive denied that the choice not to enter a collective agreement was one made by US leadership in the US. "Our division possesses a mandate to make independent such choices," he stated.

IF Metall is not entirely alone in this conflict. This industrial action has received backing by a number of labor organizations.

Port workers in neighbouring Denmark, Norway & neighboring states, are refusing to process the company's vehicles; rubbish is not removed from the automaker's Swedish facilities; and recently constructed charging stations remain connected to the grid in the country.

There is one such facility close to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, at which twenty chargers remain unused. However a Tesla enthusiast, the leader of enthusiasts group Tesla Club Sweden, states vehicle owners are unaffected by the labor dispute.

"There's another charging station 10km from this location," he comments. "And we can still purchase vehicles, we can service our vehicles, we can power our electric cars."

With stakes high for all parties, it's hard to see an end to the stand-off. The union risks setting a precedent if it concedes the principle of negotiated labor contracts.

"The worry is that this could expand," says Mr Bender, "and eventually {erode