Swedish union to exempt some Tesla cars from mechanic strike

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish labour union IF Metall on Wednesday said it would permit its mechanics to fix some Tesla cars at independent workshops during a 10-week period, exempting them from a strike that has targeted the electric vehicle maker since October.

Tesla is facing pressure in the Nordic countries from powerful employee unions backing Swedish IF Metall’s mechanics who went on strike on Oct. 27 demanding a collective agreement with the company.

Non-Tesla workshops will be allowed to repair Tesla cars between Feb. 19 and April 30, IF Metall told Reuters, in a pause that will affect between 100-200 cars, according to the union.

The easing of the strike will only concern cars that have sufficiently severe damage to make them undriveable, and which are already in the affected workshops.

“It’s to ease the pressure on private customers who have no part in this conflict, and to make a little compensation to the workshops – many of whom have a collective agreement,” a spokesperson for IF Metall said.

The strike is one of the longest by IF Metall in modern times, according to the union.

 

(Reporting by Marie Mannes in Stockholm, writing by Louise Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Bernadette Baum)