Sweden's largest industrial union IF Metall will stop a 1,021-day strike against Tesla. Despite the nearly three-year dispute, Tesla did not accept demands to sign a Swedish-style collective agreement, and the union has decided to end the industrial action.

On Aug. 13, electric vehicle outlet Electrek reported that IF Metall will end all industrial measures against Tesla from 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 19. The union said Tesla had effectively removed members who joined the strike from the company, making it no longer effective to continue.

The dispute began in October 2023. IF Metall demanded that Tesla sign a Swedish-style collective agreement for its service workers, and about 120 mechanics at seven workplaces in Sweden joined the strike at the time. Tesla has not signed a collective agreement up to now, about three years later.

The union said Tesla's large financial resources undermined the long strike. BelliPekka Seikkala, who handles collective agreements at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation LO, said Tesla weakened the strike ranks by dealing with participants one by one outside the company and called it an unusual response.

Marie Nilsson (마리 닐손), IF Metall chair, called members who took part in the strike "union heroes" who fought for a collective agreement. She said the three-year strike had imposed significant personal sacrifices on members.

As the dispute dragged on, solidarity actions in and outside Sweden continued. Port workers refused to unload Tesla vehicles, and workers in Denmark, Norway and Finland also joined port blockades. Postal service PostNord stopped delivering license plates, while electricians and cleaning workers refused to service Tesla chargers and clean showrooms, respectively.

Tesla responded by bypassing supply chains and administrative processes despite the pressure. It imported vehicles through Germany and avoided blockades by obtaining license plates directly through the courts instead of the postal network. Tesla CEO Elon Musk (일론 머스크) also strongly criticised the Swedish model of labour-management negotiations.

Sales results also did not translate into as direct a hit as the union had expected. The Tesla Model Y ranked as the best-selling vehicle in Sweden in 2023 and 2024, and Tesla registered 21,894 vehicles locally in 2024, its best performance.

Tesla's sales fell sharply after that. Registrations in Sweden in 2025 fell to 7,252, down about 67 percent from the previous year. The drop was analysed as being influenced by separate factors such as consumer backlash tied to Musk's political moves rather than the prolonged labour dispute.

In the end, IF Metall will conclude the 1,021-day strike without securing a collective agreement. Tesla maintained its position despite the long strike and the international solidarity blockades. Attention is focused on whether this case will remain a representative example of a clash between Sweden's traditional collective agreement system and a global company.