A Swedish court has ruled the country’s transport authority must find a way to get licence plates to Tesla which are being blocked by postal workers, Reuters quoted local newspaper Aftonbladet as reporting.
The decision came hours after the EV maker sued the transport agency and state run PostNord because postal workers had stopped delivering plates for new cars.
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According to the report, PostNord workers had, on 20 November, joined industrial action aimed at forcing Tesla to sign a collective bargain agreement for mechanics in Sweden and the transport agency refused to deliver the plates by other means, saying it was contractually bound to use PostNord.
However, the report added, Norrkoping district court ruled the agency must get the plates to Tesla within seven days or pay a fine of SKR1m (US$95,000).
“It is correct that a decision has been made, siding with Tesla’s claim,” Tesla lawyer Johannes Ericsson told Aftonbladet, according to Reuters.
The district court, transport agency, Tesla and its lawyer did not immediately respond to the news agency’s requests for comment.
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By GlobalDataReuters noted the the ruling was the latest twist in a battle between Tesla and labour groups in Sweden.
Union IF Metall had earlier called mechanics out on strike on 27 October, refusing to service Tesla cars because the company would not accept collective bargaining.
Members of other unions, including dockworkers, electricians and cleaners reportedly had since taken action in sympathy.
The report noted Tesla had a policy of not signing collective bargaining agreements, claiming its employees have as good, or better, terms than those demanded by IF Metall. The union responded it was vital to the Swedish labour market model all companies had collective agreements.
Tesla, in its court filing, called the transport agency’s decision not to let it pick up the licence plates “a unique attack on a company operating in Sweden”.
Seko, the union that organised the PostNord workers, told Reuters an easy solution for Tesla was to sign the collective bargaining agreement with IF Metall.
“We see this as a sign that they have not been able to circumvent our sympathy notice,” its spokesperson told the news agency.
