the carmaker bought out all the union’s striking members
they would rather buy out employees who are members of the union than give them safe conditions
Buy out from where? What does that mean? Bribe them to stop being union members?
I think it means pay them to give up their employment.
Pay them a gratuity
The terminology is severance package. A gratiuty is a tip.
carmaker buys out union members
How does that work? Do they mean paid them to cancel their union membership?
If so, that doesn’t usually work, at least not here in Denmark, as the union will continue to blockade such a company.
But Tesla is also in Denmark, and without a conflict. So I wonder if Danish unions have avoided the conflict, and are just letting Tesla operate without a union agreement?If I understand the Wikipedia article, the only source I could find that elaborates on this, correctly, the buy-out means that all striking workers were payed by Tesla to end their employment, i.e. at the end no striking union members were left at Tesla and thus
IF Metall has no longer the mandate to negotiate a collective agreementthe strike itself has no effect anymore:This was the longest strike in Sweden since the 1938 Saltsjöbaden Agreement and continued until August 2026, when IF Metall announced that the strike would end because Tesla had offered a severance package to every striking employee.
Edit: Updated using information from IF Metall.
Thanks, as I wrote above, that would usually not get the union off your neck, of course they can’t strike without union members employed. But they can still make blockades and demand the company makes an agreement with the union.
I’d hate if this means the unions lost the fight.
They cant demand an agreement if there are no members. (edit: yes they can, below)
This all started because they couldn’t get an agreement for their members.
They cant demand an agreement if there are no members.
yes they can, perfectly standard way for unions to operate, and has happened multiple times here.
For instance with McDonald’s and 7 Eleven.
The company is suffering blockade by union members (That don’t work there) until the company gives in.This all started because they couldn’t get an agreement for their members.
Of course it did, but that is not the sole interest for the union, it is also an interest that the company doesn’t undermine other companies that actually have agreements with the union.
You still need to have someone represented at the company, by the union calling for the initial blockade.
In the McDonalds case, the people working AT McDonalds were in a union
You still need to have someone represented at the company, by the union calling for the initial blockade.
No, and why do you think that? Sounds like you don’t really know how unions work in Scandinavia.
In the McDonalds case, the people working AT McDonalds were in a union
IDK if that is true, but it is irrelevant, because it was not a strike that determined the outcome, but blockade and boycott.
And there have been other cases, where both the owner and people employed were right wing idiots who were all against unions, they were forced to ultimately make an agreement anyway. They even had support from right wing parties, having arrangements there to support them.So are you saying that no members of McDonalds were part of the union? The union had absolutely 0 members at McDonalds? I understand that in Scandinavia being part of a union is completely separate from the company, and any collective agreement, but you still need to be a member if I’m not mistaken.
In the case I’m seeing about another McDonalds blockade, cleaning contractors weren’t being treated well, which also resulted in a blockade. The union related to the cleaners called the blockade which brought in all sorts of other unrelated members.
Here is IF Metall’s press statement, but it adds little more information than written elsewhere in this forum. Not how much money was paid, for example.
Sounds like it’s a good idea to join a union just to get bought out, and walk away with the 1.2 million.
*vales are estimated, based on me thinking up some number.
So … Elon Musk won?
A temporary victory I think. What Musk is trying to upend is the entire Swedish model. I don’t see unions giving up on this, and neither will responsible companies I think, it’s s model that has served us well for over 100 years.
Until people see the idea, want to quit? Go on strike and receive a big pay cheque… just need to get a lot more people involved and a union
Yep. He was able to buy his way out of the problem.
