Killing blow for Tesla: The cars do not get new license plates
IF Metall’s strike will stop new Tesla cars from being put into service. The reason is the sympathy measure that blocks Postnord’s handling of mail to Tesla.
According to the Swedish Transport Agency, registration plates may not be distributed in any other way.
Tesla rages against the “disproportionate action” of the authority and state-owned Postnord.
IF Metall’s strike against Tesla in the fight for a collective agreement has almost lasted a month, but work at Tesla’s facilities is still ongoing. There are staff who take care of cars that have arrived by truck and make them ready for customer delivery. Among other things, the number plates that normally arrive via Postnord are mounted.
But it will stop.
Tesla will henceforth not receive any new license plates because Postnord no longer handles mail for the electric car company. The Swedish Transport Agency may not change postal providers.
“The authority Kammarkollegiet has procured a framework agreement for letter and parcel services that all authorities must use. And according to that agreement, we must use Postnord,” explains Anna Berggrund, department director Vehicle Information at the Swedish Transport Agency.
On Monday night, Seko’s sympathy measure came into effect. It involves a blockade against the distribution, delivery and collection of shipments, letters, packages and pallets made by Postnord and Citymail to all of Tesla’s workplaces throughout Sweden. The trade union ST’s blockade concerning Postnord’s deliveries to Tesla began to apply on Tuesday afternoon.
Anders Porelius, who is press manager at Postnord Sweden, confirms that all mail delivery to Tesla has been stopped.
“We are neutral in the basic conflict, but we do not bypass the blockade. Shipments destined for Tesla are not distributed. The right to strike is so strong that it counts as force majeure. This means that we are not violating the social mission,” he says.
What does Postnord do with all mail to Tesla?
“We take care of it and store it,” says Anders Porelius.
The Swedish Post and Telecommunications Board, which is the supervisory authority, is informed and announces via press officer Petter Öhrn that the issue is being followed.
There is no information on how many number plates are involved so far. Between January and October, roughly 17,000 new Teslas have been registered in Sweden, which means an average of 1,700 cars per month. New registrations have continued even since the strike broke out. Last week alone, approximately 500 new cars were delivered. The plates are ordered when the car leaves the factory so there will be a delay before the postal blockade hits the car deliveries.
The process of registering cars is the same for all car brands. New cars are registered by the Swedish Transport Agency and then an order is made for registration plates from the supplier with whom the Swedish Transport Agency has an agreement. It is Scandinavian Motorcenter (SMC) in Danderyd. But Tesla is not allowed to go there and collect the signs.
“Our agreement with SMC describes how the signs are to be distributed to ensure that the signs are delivered to the right recipients. The agreement does not allow signs to be handed out or picked up directly from the sign manufacturer,” says Anna Berggrund.
She explains that the Swedish Transport Agency’s responsibility is to ensure that the signs are manufactured.
“Our mission is to provide license plates through procured suppliers. We have completed this by taking the signs to Postnord," she says.
Tesla emphasized in a written statement to Di that the mail blockade “does not have an immediate impact on our delivery capability.”
“The fact that the Swedish Transport Agency, the state authority responsible for the delivery of all registration plates in Sweden, and Postnord, a state-owned company, contribute in this way to the disproportionate action of Swedish unions is remarkable. It is Tesla’s legal right not to enter into a collective agreement and the Swedish Transport Agency has a legal duty to deliver license plates,” writes Tesla.
Translation borrowed from that other site.
I think that’s likely the route that Tesla would take, sue that the rules as stated aren’t capable of accommodating Force Majeure or other similar disruptions. But it will take time; and I don’t imagine that they’ll need to, eventually there will be some change to allow other delivery routes. I don’t think this was done on purpose; rather that the restrictions were placed reasonably and this hadn’t come up as no other automaker in the country had deliberately antagonised its workers to this extent.
This is the problem with Tesla wanting to operate the same way in every country, if you don’t cede that countries are unique bodies of law, regulations, and social practices, you can’t then complain when you fall afoul of that combination.
Ya, I don’t think this was done on purpose either, it’s just one of those unexpected combinations of things, and that’s something they might be able to challenge.