NITO with full support for the Swedish Tesla strikers
"NITO wholeheartedly supports IF Metall's strikes at Tesla's workshops in Sweden. This is a fight for the entire Nordic model," says Trond Markussen, president of NITO.
Since October 27, the Swedish trade union IF Metall has been striking at Swedish Tesla companies to demand a collective agreement. NITO, Norway's largest union for engineers and technologists, gives full support to the strikers.
"This strike shows how important a strong community and trade unions in the workplace are. Foreign companies are not stronger or more important than others. The Swedish workers on strike are currently at the forefront of an important struggle. They have NITO's full support and solidarity," says Markussen.
A decent working life
The NITO president believes that Tesla CEO Elon Musk's attitudes so far do not take into account the good cooperation between employee and employer that exists in thousands of Nordic companies and the importance of a decent working life.
"Elon Musk obviously has a false picture of the Nordic trade union movement's role in working life and society. A decent working life and a successful Nordic model are what have created our common prosperity and value creation," says Markussen.
Challenging NHO
NITO is now challenging NHO to take action towards its foreign member companies.
"No one is served by a strike, at least not on something as basic as collective agreements and a decent working life. We hope NHO follows suit and encourages them to sit down with their companies with foreign owners and offer training in the Nordic model," says Markussen.
Letter of support to IF Metall from NITO
Many thanks to striking Tesla workers and IF Metall!
The ongoing strike for a collective agreement with Tesla is a fight for the Nordic model. A fight you are taking on behalf of everyone who works to meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goal number 8 on decent work and economic growth.
NITO – the Norwegian Association of Engineers and Technologists would therefore like to thank you for taking this fight and tell you that you have a strong and strong cheerleader among Nordic trade unions.
No doubt you have a tough opponent. It is difficult to see that Musk has any expertise or knowledge of Nordic cooperation models in working life. This can be illustrated by the fact that the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv has chosen to have its own articles about the strike have headlines such as "The Nordic countries against the world – How long do the Swedes have to strike before it rattles off for Elon Musk?" and "Up with your head Elon Musk. Tesla has had greater challenges than employees wanting a collective agreement."
Since there are large elements of foreign ownership in Nordic companies, it is important that the owners gain insight into the Nordic cooperation and working life models, and not least the benefits of our way of cooperating. The owners must know that our models work in the best interests of both employees, society and capital.
If foreign ownership does not understand this without Nordic trade unions having to put power behind the demands, it is negative for all parties, but it shows that the fight you are now waging is necessary to preserve and further develop a cooperation model that works!
The strike IF Metall is now fighting is a struggle that could have great significance far beyond Sweden's borders. You are at the forefront of a fight for the Nordic model, you have a large cheerleader in NITO and our respect, support, and solidarity!
Best regards,
Trond Markussen
President
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