Twenty-four workers from other European countries have on 41 occasions since February been flown in to work at one of Tesla’s service centres in Sweden, reports trade union news site Dagens Arbete, citing public documents from the Work Environment Authority.

IF Metall, Sweden’s metalworkers union, launched a full-scale strike against Tesla in October, demanding that the US car manufacturer sign a collective bargaining agreement. Several other unions in Sweden have also launched solidarity action against Tesla in response.

The fact that Tesla is bringing in people from other countries shows that the industrial action is having an effect, argues Peter Lydell, an ombudsman for IF Metall. He criticised the company for using strike breakers, a practice that hasn’t happened in Sweden since the 1930s.

“Sometimes we see them arriving by taxi and carrying suitcases. Or they get picked up by someone at Arlanda and go directly to the garage,” he told Dagens Arbete, which is affiliated with but editorially independent from IF Metall and the GS-facket and Pappers unions.

It writes that strike breakers have so far been brought in from the following countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, UK and the Netherlands.

WORKING IN SWEDEN:

• How do strikes work in Sweden and what are your rights?