A historical strike has hit Tesla in Sweden. The strike has been going on since 27th of October and made Elon Musk declare that it was "insane." The strike pits American high-tech capitalism versus the "Swedish model" and the world's richest man versus the working class. In this talk from local left radical group Autonom Organisering we will look more closely at how this strike intersects with different societal conflicts.
In concrete terms, the strike revolves around the Swedish metal workers union, IF Metall, attempting to force Tesla to sign a collective bargaining agreement (kollektivavtal). Tesla has flat-out refused, which has caused the strike. As Tesla has utilized wide-scale scabbing and threats to their employees, more unions have been drawn into solidarity strikes, first in Sweden and now across the Nordics. This is therefore quite a unique strike not just in terms of the Swedish context, but also in the context of Tesla as a global business which has fervently tried to suppress labor organising.
What is interesting about the strike is also how it draws draws together other social conflicts such as the capitalist dream of a green transition with the reality of how Tesla is dependent upon extracting lithium from the global south. The strike also underlines the power of high-tech private enterprises who try to market and sell a very specific kind of future to us. A future that they, quite literally, build. Lastly, it underlines the possibilities and pitfalls for organising as a global working class.
This talk thus begins in the Tesla strike with a look at some very concrete experiences of solidarity work. From there, the lecture moves into showing how the strike is meaningful for wider conflicts in society, as well as for potential visions of a post-capitalist society. Lastly, we will discuss how to support and develop the strike. The talk begins right after Kalles café, so you can buy some coffee and something to eat right before we begin.
Autonom Organisering
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