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A new poll found that most Swedes support the wave of sympathy strikes against U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla.
According to the poll, conducted by Novus and published in the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet on Monday, 58% of respondents believe that the “union is right to take the fight with Tesla.” Just under 20% of those surveyed said the labor action is wrong.
The strong support for the Tesla strikes suggests that the company’s struggle to keep their shops nonunion could go on for some time.
The strikes began in late October when Tesla’s mechanics voted to join the Swedish IF Metall union. After bargaining with Tesla went nowhere, the 125 organized technicians went on strike.
Soon after, sympathy strikes popped up around the country. Swedish dock workers, postal carriers and garbage collectors agreed to stop servicing Tesla facilities. More recently, a Swedish pension fund promised to sell off some of its Tesla stock.
The conflict has spread into the greater Scandinavian region. Danish, Finnish and Norwegian workers have all launched sympathy strikes in response to Tesla’s unwillingness to sign a collective agreement.
The strikes are mostly driven by a feeling that Tesla’s anti-union policies run counter to the traditions of the region. Most workers in Scandinavia work under collective bargaining agreements, with just under 70% of Swedish laborers represented by a union.
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