In the ongoing saga between Swedish labor unions and Elon Musk’s Tesla, the latest battleground has shifted to Tesla’s Superchargers. A union responsible for the maintenance, planning, construction, and connection of electric vehicle charging stations has declared that as of March 4th, they will no longer respond to the company’s requests.
SEKO, the Swedish Union for Service and Communication Employees, has announced solidarity with other unions currently in conflict with Tesla over a collective bargaining agreement. According to SEKO, as of March 4th, no service, construction, planning, or any action to keep Tesla’s Superchargers operational in the country will be carried out.
In a statement to Reuters, Gabriella Lavecchia, SEKO’s president, remarked:
“The struggle that IF Metall [another Swedish union] is leading is important for the entire Swedish collective bargaining model.“
Other unions in the region have taken similar measures to pressure Tesla into signing a collective bargaining agreement covering 90% of all employees in Sweden. It’s worth noting that the labor dispute against Tesla has involved unions responsible for waste collection, postal services, license plate delivery, and port operations, including Tesla vehicle transport and delivery.
Until now, union actions in Sweden had primarily aimed to pressure the company, but SEKO’s latest move risks affecting consumers directly. Tesla’s Superchargers represent the fastest and most efficient solution for electric vehicle charging, a benefit not limited solely to Tesla owners but extended to all electric vehicle drivers.
This development widens the labor dispute, highlighting how protest strategies can have collateral effects beyond the initial goal of influencing corporate decisions, directly impacting end-users of services. The reliance on the Supercharger network for fast charges thus becomes a vulnerability for both Tesla and a broad spectrum of consumers, underscoring the critical importance of such infrastructure in supporting electric mobility.