Elon Musk called Tesla's Sweden strike 'insane' — now it's spread to Denmark

Tesla boss Elon Musk called the strikes in Sweden “insane” in a post on X. PATRICK PLEUL/Getty Images

Tesla faces a wave of strikes in Sweden, with unions calling for better pay and benefits.
Elon Musk called the strikes, which have disrupted deliveries, “insane” in a post on X. 
Now they are spreading to Denmark, with Danish dockworkers also refusing to unload Tesla’s EVs.

Tesla is embroiled in a growing battle with unions in Europe after the wave of strikes impacting the company in Sweden spread to Denmark.

Danish dockworkers are refusing to unload the US electric car giant’s vehicles in solidarity with Swedish Tesla workers, whose demands for better wages and benefits have sparked widespread strikes dubbed “insane” by Tesla boss Elon Musk.

“Like the companies, the trade union movement is global in the fight to protect workers,” said Jan Villadsen, the chair of Danish labor union 3F, in a statement to Reuters.

The strike will only affect cars meant for the Swedish market, where workers are striking to try and force a collective agreement on wages and benefits for the 120 employees who work at Tesla’s service facilities in the country.

Nine other Swedish unions have joined the strike in solidarity, with dockworkers refusing to unload Tesla’s cars at ports and electricians refusing to repair the company’s charging stations.

The Swedish postal service also joined the strike in November, meaning that for a time new Tesla owners in the country weren’t able to receive their license plates or register their cars, a move that Musk called “insane” in a post on X.

Tesla won a reprieve after a court ruled that Sweden’s Transport Agency must ensure that the license plates are delivered or face a fine, but the industrial disputes come at a bad time for the company as it battles to keep its spot as the world’s top EV producer.

Sweden and Denmark aren’t the only headache Tesla faces right now, with the electric car giant also bracing for a new wave of union pressure in the US.

After securing bumper contracts from legacy automakers, the United Auto Workers (UAW) has launched a huge unionization drive targeting 150,000 workers at non-unionized car companies, including Tesla.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal US working hours.