Sweden’s metalworkers’ union IF Metall is ending its nearly three-year strike against Tesla’s Swedish workshops after the company bought out the remaining striking mechanics. The industrial action formally ends on August 19, 2026, without any collective agreement.
The Danish labor newspaper Arbejderen reports that Elon Musk’s company has bought its way to an end of the conflict. Instead of signing a collective agreement, Tesla paid off the mechanics who had been on strike since 2023.
IF Metall says all measures against Tesla’s Swedish operations cease at 00:01 on August 19, 2026. According to FriFagbevegelse, the union states the action can no longer have any effect, because there are no striking members left to represent.
The strike began on October 27, 2023. Le Monde reports that mechanics at around nine to ten Tesla repair shops in several Swedish cities walked off the job. The dispute centered on the company’s refusal to sign a collective bargaining agreement with IF Metall.
Figures on the number of strikers vary between outlets. Le Monde and EVwire describe roughly 120 to 130 mechanics at the start, with about 70 union members still in the action by spring 2026. Danish daily Berlingske reports that Tesla bought out around 80 remaining strikers towards the end.
Union calls the outcome a defeat
IF Metall has described the result as a loss. Per EVwire, LO contract secretary Veli-Pekka Säikkälä called the outcome a failure, while adding that the union had lost a battle and not the war. Berlingske notes that the strike was intended as a war of attrition.
Bloomberg reports that Tesla did not accept the Swedish collective bargaining model that the union sought to enforce. The news agency frames the dispute as a test of Sweden’s wage-setting system. Tesla signed no agreement as part of the resolution.
Over nearly three years, the conflict drew a series of sympathy actions from other Swedish unions. As reported by Yahoo Finance, these affected ports, vehicle repairs, license plate deliveries and maintenance of Tesla Superchargers in Sweden.
The buyout of all striking technicians is described as unprecedented in Sweden. Bloomberg and ArenaEV report that the company bought its way out of what has been called the longest strike in modern Swedish industrial history.
IF Metall states that the decision does not reflect a change in its position on collective agreements. According to Teslarati, the union is calling off the action solely because Tesla has bought out all of its striking members at the workshops.
