US-based Tesla manager blames trade unions for Swedish charging chaos

A California-based Tesla director has blamed trade unions for holdups at charging stations in Sweden over the weekend.

Local Swedish media reported that queues stretched out several hundred metres in Malung, a town near to popular ski resorts including Sälen.

With many travellers passing to and from the mountains last weekend, newspaper Aftonbladet reported queues of more than 150 vehicles on Sunday.

“As forecasted, Swedish EV drivers are suffering and EV infrastructure is not keeping up unless Superchargers get energised by the utilities blocking them from getting energised,” wrote Max de Zegher on X.

“Tesla Superchargers are critical infrastructure, especially for peak travel days like this. 100+ stalls in Sweden would have been energised this winter, if it wasn’t for sympathy strikes.”

Zegher blamed strikes organised by Swedish trade union IF Metall, which have been rumbling on since October 2023.

After Tesla refused to sign a collective bargaining agreement with employees, around 130 mechanics belonging to IF Metall initially went on strike.

The agreement would have allowed a labour union to negotiate on behalf of workers.

“This is insane,” Musk wrote on X during the early stages of the action.

Sympathy strikes spread

More than a dozen unions have subsequently announced sympathy strikes, which has involved dockworkers, electricians, maintenance crews and cleaners.

The dispute has also spread to other nations, with Norway’s Fellesforbundet union, Denmark’s 3F Transport and Finland’s AKT participating in the action.

Dockworkers in these countries have notably prevented Tesla cars from being delivered across borders.

Postal workers in Sweden have also been holding up deliveries of licence plates to Tesla owners.

The carmaker announced on Tuesday that it was seeking a court order to ensure that Sweden’s Transport Agency provides alternative access to the plates.

No clear route ahead for chargers

Simon Petersson, a spokesperson for IF Metall, told Euronews that recent delays at charging stations could be blamed on sympathy action by electricians, which means charging stations are not being connected to the grid.

Petersson pointed to comments he had given to Swedish newspaper Expressen.

“It is regrettable that Tesla is forcing us into this situation,” he said, noting that the union was looking for solutions.

“We think this expansion is very important, but we can't let a single actor do whatever they want, on whatever terms they want, even if it's an important project.”

Tesla has not yet responded to Euronews’ request for comment.

On X, the firm’s Max de Zegher said that despite “no clear path” for grid connection in Sweden, Tesla would “continue to invest and build sites for Swedish EV drivers, including more capacity in Malung, Käppen, Vansbro, Idre, Särna, and Sunne.”