IF Metall suspends its strike against Tesla on Aug. 19 after the buyout of union members; it accused the carmaker of 'systematic strikebreaking.'
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IF Metall said Thursday it will suspend its nearly three-year strike against Tesla in Sweden, effective Aug. 19, after the carmaker bought out all of the union's striking workers.
The walkout began in 2023 with about 120 Tesla workers and a demand that Tesla negotiate over pay and working conditions and sign a collective agreement. Collective agreements are the norm in Sweden's heavily unionized workforce.
The conflict escalated well beyond the original strikers. Dockworkers at Swedish ports refused to unload Tesla's EVs from ships, cutting the normal delivery channel for its imported cars. Cleaners boycotted its showrooms and offices, and other Swedish unions joined the action. The strike ran more than 1,000 days and disrupted Tesla's operations in the country, long enough to draw Musk's attention. The CEO called it "insane" during the conflict and has been sharply critical of unions for years.
In announcing the suspension, IF Metall accused Tesla of "systematic strikebreaking."
"We can conclude that Tesla is so strongly opposed to collective agreements that they would rather buy out employees who are members of the union than give them safe conditions," the union wrote, according to a translated announcement.
IF Metall's statement portrays the buyout as a refusal to bargain. The collective agreement the strike was meant to win did not materialize. Tesla has not said how many workers took the buyout or what the settlement cost, and the company did not respond to a request for comment.
Musk, the world's richest man, has previously paid large sums to close out disputes, either directly or through his companies. He paid a $20 million SEC fine in 2018 after falsely claiming he had secured funding to take Tesla private. In 2025 he settled with former top Twitter executives over unpaid severance. Tesla was also accused in 2023 of cracking down on unionization efforts in the US.
Tesla has regularly clashed with unions in Europe. Earlier this year, the company fended off an attempt by Germany's IG Metall to win control of a workers' body overseeing its Berlin Gigafactory. That dispute peaked when Tesla management accused union members of secretly recording an internal meeting.
The suspension takes effect Aug. 19, ending the port blockade and the cleaners' boycott that have complicated Tesla's Swedish deliveries since 2023.
The end of the strike comes as Tesla's European sales recover from a 2025 slump that followed backlash over Musk's political interventions. Registrations across the region rose 50% year over year in June, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. In Sweden, registrations are up about 43% so far this year.
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