Musk Claims ‘Storm Has Passed’ as Tesla Sweden Strike Drags On

(Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk shrugged off a drawn out labor-market dispute in Sweden, indicating the worst was over for the maker of electric vehicles.

“The storm has passed on that front,” he said in a conversation on his social media platform X on Monday. “I think things are in reasonably good shape in Sweden.”

But the conflict with Swedish unions over the automaker’s refusal to sign a collective bargaining agreement has been going since late October, when industrial workers’ union IF Metall launched a strike among repair-shop workers.

Read More: Musk Pits Scandinavia’s Love of EVs Against Its Union Tradition

Since the initial walk-out, more than a dozen labor unions in Sweden and other Nordic countries have blockaded Tesla-related work, including mail collection and delivery, trash pickups, as well the offloading of Teslas at ports across a region that has embraced electric cars more enthusiastically than anywhere else.

The collective agreement the unions are demanding is the kind that covers 90% of all employees in the biggest Nordic country.  

The conversation was hosted by the CEO of Norway’s $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, Nicolai Tangen. The former hedge fund manager has used his podcast to bolster awareness of what Norges Bank Investment Management does at home and abroad. The fund owns a 0.98% stake in Tesla, making it the eighth biggest holder in the auto manufacturer, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Read More: Norway’s $1.5 Trillion Wealth Fund Added to EV Bets Last Year

--With assistance from Stephen Treloar and Jonas Ekblom.

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