Elon Musk doesn’t understand Sweden’s unions. If he did, he’d work with them | German Bender

If the Tesla CEO studied the Nordic labour movement like he studies car batteries, he'd see that collective bargaining can suit employers too

Elon Musk, the notoriously anti-union CEO of the electric car giant Tesla, finds himself on the ropes in his dispute with Swedish workers. After more than two months of strikes - the first against Tesla anywhere in the world - 10 Swedish unions have so far launched industrial action against the company and the pressure is growing.

The issue at the core of the original dispute concerns Tesla and the Swedish industrial union IF Metall, which sought a collective agreement to provide better wages and benefits for mechanics in Tesla's repair shops. The union's members in Sweden have been on strike since 27 October.

German Bender is chief analyst at the progressive Swedish thinktank Arena and a former visiting research fellow at Harvard Law School