– Support the Tesla strike – altaposten.no

For over 500 days, Swedish workers have fought against Tesla and their attempts to undermine trade union organization and collective agreements. This is not just a struggle for Swedish workers – it is a struggle for the entire Nordic model, for the right to decent working conditions, and for solidarity across national borders. LO’s local organizations stand for shoulder with our Swedish colleagues in this crucial struggle. This is not the time to be quiet. This is the time to stand together.

Tesla oppose trade union organization

The Nordic model is the foundation wall of our society. Through community, we have created welfare states where everyone is entitled to health care, education and a safe old age. This is not something we have received for free, it is something we have fought.

When companies like Tesla deny collective bargaining agreements, they not only attack the rights of employees – they attack the entire community. If the Nordic model is weakened, the financing of schools, hospitals and pensions is also weakened. Without strong trade unions and orderly conditions, we get lower wages, poorer working conditions and less tax revenue. Less money for the community, more to the richest.

We saw it up close when a delegation from Lo Troms and Finnmark and Lo Nordland was in Umeå and stood strike with the strikers. Here we met workers who refuse to be intimidated by a billionaire who thinks he can dictate the working conditions at his own discretion. They showed an unwavering strength and a common understanding of what this struggle is about: dignity, security and solidarity.

Among them was an elderly man who had been striking for months. When we talked to him, he said something that was stuck in us: « I stand here for my children and grandchildren, so they don’t have to take this fight. » This is the core of our solidarity – we are not just fighting for ourselves, but for future generations.

Nordic solidarity against global greed

The Nordic model works. But it is not natural, it must be defended – always! Each time a multinational company breaks the rules without consequences, the limits of what we accept are moved.

If Tesla wins this match, it gives a dangerous signal to other global companies: That they can operate in the Nordic countries without relating to the rules of the rules that have secured welfare and security for workers for generations. Therefore, it is crucial that we stand together. This is not just about the automotive industry or about Sweden – this is about what kind of working life and society we will have in the future.

We know what happens when the employees’ freedom of organization is weakened. We have seen it in other parts of the world. Increased differences. Lower wages. Less security. A society where a few are left with everything, and the majority are getting less. It is not the Nordic model. That’s not the society we want.

We don’t give up!

LO in Troms and Finnmark and all our local organizations provide our full support to the Tesla strike in Sweden. We will not sit still and watch a billionaire and his group tearing down what we have built up over decades of fighting and negotiations. We demand that Tesla recognize the unions and enter into collective bargaining agreements in Sweden, and we demand that the Norwegian authorities stand on the workers’ side.

Employees’ rights cannot be up to the individual’s goodwill. We have fought for them before, and we are fighting for them now. Together we are strong, and together we will win this match!

LO in Tromsø, LO in Mid-Troms, LO in Sør-Troms

LO in Sør-Varanger, LO in Alta, LO in Berlevåg and Båtsfjord

Laughed at Svalbard, LO in Vadsø