Tesla's setback against Postnord - does not get the license plates (www.expressen.se)

submitted 11 months ago by CAVOK@lemmy.world to c/europe@feddit.de

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It was a setback for Tesla in the Solna district court.

Postnord does not need to distribute the number plates to the company while waiting for the case to be decided.

They must be allowed to speak first and have three days.

We will now use the time to analyze and make an assessment of the mood that the district court has now shared, says Postnord's press manager Anders Porelius.

Postnord does not need to distribute the number plates to the company while waiting for the case to be decided.

They must be allowed to speak first and have three days.

We will now use the time to analyze and make an assessment of the mood that the district court now has On Monday, it was jacked up a notch, when the news came that Tesla is suing the Swedish state through the Swedish Transport Agency at the Norrköping district court and Postnord at the Solna district court.

On November 16, Tesla ordered 28 registration plates for new cars from the Swedish Transport Agency - which are now stuck with Postnord, according to the lawsuit that was submitted to the Solna district court on Monday.

On Tuesday, a decision was made in the Solna district court regarding Tesla's request for a so-called interim decision - i.e. the requirement that Postnord distribute the registration plates while the legal process is ongoing.

It was rejected. Postnord gets to comment first and has three days.

"It has not emerged that it would be the question of such harmful effects and such a lack of time that justifies an immediate decision," writes the Solna district court in the decision.

They want to get our views on this matter. We will look into that, says Anders Porelius, Postnord's press manager.

The blockade behind the mood The background is the trade unions Seko's and ST's blockade of Postnord, which means that employees do not handle Tesla's mail. This, in turn, has led to Tesla not getting the number plates for new cars distributed.

According to the Swedish Transport Agency, the framework agreement for postal package distribution that all government agencies follow prohibits them from using a supplier other than Postnord. Tesla is also not allowed to pick up the signs themselves, according to the agreement with the manufacturer.

Tesla's letters and packages have thus been left lying around.

In connection with the lawsuit, the electric car giant also requested a court order to collect the license plates from the manufacturer while the legal process is ongoing - and the Norrköping District Court followed Tesla's line.

The idea is that Tesla owners should be able to pick up the signs directly from the manufacturer, but there are no procedures for how this should be done in practical terms, writes TT.

Registration plates are not something we want to end up in the wrong hands. We make sure that signs go where they are supposed to, says Anna Berggrund, department director for vehicle information at the Swedish Transport Agency, to the news agency.

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[-] CapeWearingAeroplane@sopuli.xyz 26 points 11 months ago

I'm not getting over how beautiful it is to see how powerful unions can be when they really need to. I've read articles with union leaders explicitly saying that they can and will tighten the screw on Tesla until they fold. I believe a major aluminium extrusion plant recently decided to stop production of profiles for Tesla.

Recently in Norway, one of the major unions were asked if they were going to stop unloading teslas at Norwegian harbours, and simply said "we're talking to our Swedish counterparts, they'll let us know if they need us. If Tesla tries to import vehicles to Sweden via Norwegian harbours, which they are not currently, we won't touch the cars."

I can imagine this spreading if Tesla doesn't fold, and it would be a sight to see a bunch of international Scandinavian / European Union organisations collectively decide to fuck up Tesla.

[-] nomecks@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Buy Tesla shares
Wait for Tesla to pull out of Norway to avoid the union
Sue Tesla for damaging my share value, as it was a profitable market

Shareholder primacy for the win!

[-] thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 3 points 11 months ago

That'd be Sweden not Norway mate, and your plan is as well thought through as your fact checking. Shareholders have very limited recourse to sue over executive decisions, and withdrawing from a market in these circumstances isn't one (noting it is an American company and that is under American law).

[+] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world -9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

It's actually sad to see the aluminum plant join the sympathy strike.

No matter what happens now, if Tesla signs an agreement or not, if Tesla leaves Sweden or not, dozens of current and hundreds of future jobs will be lost there permanently.

Elon can be vindictive and there's no way he'll give them any business beyond their contract, might break the contract, and won't use them for any of the Berlin expansions to millions of cars.

It probably would have been better to hurt them some other way. I keep hearing about the finance / banking industry joining which made toy's r us sign. That would have saved these aluminum jobs and still put the screws to Tesla.

Edit: and their ceo has already said as much will likely happen

[-] CapeWearingAeroplane@sopuli.xyz 4 points 11 months ago

The thing is this:

The unions see a healthy environment and healthy cooperation with businesses as far more valuable than a few individual jobs at an individual plant. If your strike burns the factory to the ground, you lose jobs, the point is that not all conditions are worth working under.
maybe even more importantly: Tesla will need to get their aluminium profiles from somewhere, so while that specific plant may lose a contract, some other plant will pick it up, and the jobs will be there instead. Companies lose contracts all the time, for all kinds of reasons, losing one over workers rights sounds like one of the better options.

Of course, it's sad for the individuals that see consequences, but sad in the sense that this should never have happened, and would never had happened if Tesla wasn't so dense.

[+] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world -7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

But why did it have to be this plant? Why not convince the banking unions instead and just keep the jobs?

Whether or not this specific place strikes doesn't matter, it's just the strike as a whole needs to keep escalating.

Tesla will just import the profiles from China or the USA until they find another option near the EU, but NOT in Sweden. Those jobs are almost certainly gone from Sweden forever.

Edit: E.g Tesla needs someone, anyone to deliver the mail. Even after this strike, they have no choice but to use some sort of mail carrier in Sweden, so the mail strike impacts Tesla, but doesn't threaten Swedish jobs long term. That's not the case with this aluminum company.

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 months ago

But why did it have to be this plant?

Would prefer it to not be in your backyard?

[-] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

I would prefer to know why they chose this over the banking unions which successfully forced Toys R Us to sign, and not throw the jobs away potentially unnecessarily.

[-] CapeWearingAeroplane@sopuli.xyz 2 points 11 months ago

I see your point, but how about a counter-point: Tesla didn't originally choose the Swedish plant out of the goodness of their heart. They chose it because it made the most economic sense. If they choose a manufacturer somewhere else, they're going to have to eat the long term costs associated with logistics, tolls, etc. that come along with importing those profiles from the US, China, or somewhere else. That makes them less competitive.

At the same time, the Swedish plant has available capacity, that they are burning to use for something, and which Teslas competitors may be happy to pick up. Choosing away the best economic option out of principle (which it looks like Tesla will be doing) is rarely a good business decision.

[-] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

Just another thought on this, as we both agree this will cost Tesla money in the short term.

Do you know why Tesla is the most vertically integrated car company though?

It's because suppliers wouldn't work with Tesla early on as they were a nobody, so they had to make their own stuff. They're even making a lithium refinery because they can't get enough of it.

If there are no other legitimate EU options, they might just use the expansive piece of land at their Berlin factory to spin up an aluminum profiles production line.

They surely have the knowledge and capabilities and long term it would actually make them more competitive.

That's too far ahead to really know, but it could actually backfire and make them stronger.

[-] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

You're right, this is going to cost Tesla money, probably for at least 6 months, probably a year, but he's shown he's willing to throw money at the problem.

Everyone has ignored my main ~~question~~ comment and suggestion

Why didn't they bring the banking unions in instead.

Save the jobs, force Tesla to sign like Toys R Us as it would cripple them even more than this aluminum thing.

There's no guarantee that anyone else will want their excess capacity or be willing to make orders for millions of cars. Existing manufacturers are just going from ICE to EV, they aren't making more cars necessarily. It would probably have to be new entrants like BYD to pick up the slack and create volume. It's possible, but like you said no guarantee. (Edit and they still could have had BYD in addition to Tesla)

[-] tryptaminev@feddit.de 3 points 11 months ago

It probably would have been better to hurt them some other way.

Like what? This whole thing has been going on for years. No media attention and public pressure made Tesla budge.

There is only three legal ways that workers can fight their company. Leaving, striking and malicious compliance. If they leave, they dont have the job anyways. If they strike the company needs to decide whether operating in that country is worthwhile under an agreement with the workers or not. If they choose malicious compliance the factory will not be profitable and it will be shut down sooner or later, so people will loose their jobs. Also they will struggle to be hired somewhere else because malicious compliance results in a poor employment record.

If i am missing something please let me know, because the way i see it right now striking is the only legal mean available to the workers that will not result in them loosing their jobs with certainty.

[-] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Everyone seems to be ignoring my specific ~~questions~~ comment / suggestion

Why not the banking unions?

The banking unions shut down toys r us ability to do financial transactions which crippled them and forced them to sign.

Why did they have to risk these jobs, when there was another avenue that wouldn't cost jobs that had a proven track record.

[-] Name@feddit.nu 2 points 11 months ago

Not really, they will still have to offer repairs in some way or another. They could go the Amazon way and hire a contractor though with CBA. "Leaving" while still staying

[-] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

You made my point without realizing it.

Repair shops in Sweden striking or not will still need to be used after the strike. No jobs lost.

These aluminum profiles can be sourced outside of Sweden forever. Jobs lost.

Edit: Banking industry striking, still needed after the strike, no jobs lost

[-] InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works 24 points 11 months ago

🎻
Wait this violin is still too big.
How about this one:
^🎻^

[-] Froyn@kbin.social 16 points 11 months ago

Too bad they can't order Tesla to "negotiate in good faith" to settle the root strike that is causing all these issues for themselves.

[-] LowtierComputer@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

I'm out of the loop. Could you explain what has caused this?

[-] magnetosphere@kbin.social 12 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Sweden doesn’t have federally mandated worker protections like some other countries do. Instead, employers are expected to sign worker agreements with their employees. Tesla has refused to do this for five years, so Tesla employees went on strike. Their union asked other unions to back them up, and some (like Postnord) have, even though they were never directly involved in the initial conflict. In other signs of solidarity, dock workers at some Swedish ports are also refusing to unload Teslas from ships, electricians are refusing to repair charging stations, cleaning companies won’t clean Tesla showrooms, etc.

Many Swedish unions see Tesla’s stubbornness as a threat to the rights of Swedish workers, and look at this as an attempt to weaken and undermine them.

Full disclosure: I am far from neutral. I am 100% on the side of the unions.

[-] mindlight@lemm.ee 5 points 11 months ago

Fortnite: the worker agreement ("kollektivavtal") just defined the minimums. If an employer want to give the employees 30 weeks of vacation and 1000000SEK there's nothing stopping the employer.

So when Elon refuses to sign an agreement about fair pay and treatment it's all about have to option to not pay a fair wage...

[-] CAVOK@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

I think it's dockworkers in all Swedish ports actually, not just some.

[-] magnetosphere@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

Last I read, it was just the major ports, but it was planned to spread to all of them. I wasn’t sure it had happened yet. Thanks!

[-] Froyn@kbin.social 5 points 11 months ago

I was under the impression the folks working for Tesla in the country are on strike against Tesla.
The postal service refuses to cross picket lines to deliver plates.
Musk is trying to end-around in order to deliver vehicles while currently under strike.

[-] Name@feddit.nu 2 points 11 months ago

The postal service are not only refusing to cross picket lines, they are striking against Tesla as well

[-] Jaysyn@kbin.social 12 points 11 months ago

Ha ha, get fucked Muskrat.

[-] max@feddit.nl 1 points 11 months ago

Love to see it happen

[-] magnetosphere@kbin.social 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Does someone get to comment first? How many days do they have?

Also, it’s kinda fun to see Musk struggle with a legal system that doesn’t just bow to the will of whoever has the most money. He’s in uncharted territory.

this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2023

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