Tesla has filed a lawsuit against the Swedish government's Transport Agency over a workers' strike that has blocked the U.S. auto maker's requests for license plates for new vehicles, business daily Dagens Industri reported on Monday.
Would be interesting to see exactly what the claims are. As I understand it, the agency is in fact sending them the plates. It’s the postal workers that refuse to deliver them, which is protected by the Swedish constitution and thus labelled as force majeure.
They are sending them through a service that is knowingly refusing to deliver them. And the Transportation Agency refuses to simply let Tesla pick them up.
They are sending them through a service that is knowingly refusing to deliver them.
Yes, and to a layman like me, this is probably Tesla’s only possible legal standing.
They will never have any success suing Postnord for their (employees’) actions during a work conflict. Not here in Scandinavia, where work conflicts are an accepted part of the game.
But perhaps the government or the plate manufacturer can be legally forced to try to work around the force majeure situation caused by this conflict, so the plates must be shipped through alternative channels. Perhaps.
The plates are manufactured by the Swedish Transport Agency. They are obliged to deliver the plates through PostNord according to rules set by the government agency Kammarkollegiet (The Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency). As all agencies in Sweden, they work independently from the government. Therefore Tesla will have to take Kammarkollegiet to the Administrative Court, and if this happens, it will probably be appealed all the way up to the Supreme Administrative Court.
Tesla can collect its license plates from the manufacturer Scandinavian Motorcenter.
If the Swedish Transport Agency does not agree to it within seven days, a fine of one million kroner awaits, Norrköping district court decided on Monday afternoon.
It is true that there has been a decision in which they approve Tesla’s lawsuit, says lawyer Johannes Ericson to Aftonbladet.
Via its Swedish law firm Setterwalls, Tesla submitted two lawsuits on Monday, against the Swedish Transport Agency and PostNord.
In the lawsuit against the Swedish Transport Agency - which was submitted to the Norrköping district court - Tesla also demanded that, on an interim basis, i.e. temporarily, get the registration plates that the Swedish Transport Agency has forbidden the manufacturer Scandinavian Motorcenter to hand out directly to Tesla.
Monday afternoon, the Norrköping District Court granted Tesla’s request:
Yes, it is true that there has been a decision in which they approve Tesla’s lawsuit, says lawyer Johannes Ericson at Setterwall’s law firm.
What do they approve of?
They approve the interim request. They say that the Swedish Transport Agency must give consent for Tesla to pick up the license plates from the manufacturer of license plates.
At a fine of SEK 1 million?
Exactly, that’s right. Within seven days.
What do you think of the decision from the Norrköping District Court?
I have no comments regarding the decision. Tesla will be responsible for any comments regarding the decision, says Ericson.
But perhaps the government or the plate manufacturer can be legally forced to try to work around the force majeure situation caused by this conflict, so the plates must be shipped through alternative channels
I believe all Tesla is asking is to be able to pick up the plates themselves.
Yeah, but that would be in violation of the Swedish postal workers collective bargaining agreement and thus illegal under Swedish law. The “solution” Tesla wants to a legal strike is to do illegal actions. Sweden isn’t the states. Tesla can play ball or get the fuck out
They are sending them through a service that is knowingly refusing to deliver them.
As opposed to using any other delivery service, where sympathy action could just as well happen. It’s not like the government deliberately picked a delivery company whose workers are hostile to Tesla.
It’s not like the government deliberately picked a delivery company whose workers are hostile to Tesla.
When they learned that the plates were not being delivered, they did not provide relief by letting Tesla pick up the plates at no cost to the Transportation Authority.
While it would have been easy for the agency to do so, making special arrangements for a company to help them circumvent a labor conflict can easily be interpreted as taking sides, so it is well understandable that the government agency threads carefully here. It can well be argued that doing nothing is the neutral action.
My understanding is that today’s interim decision came before the defendant (the agency) was officially served or had answered the suit, so we don’t know what their arguments are really.
They are sending them through a service that is knowingly refusing to deliver them. And the Transportation Agency refuses to simply let Tesla pick them up.
Yes, and to a layman like me, this is probably Tesla’s only possible legal standing.
They will never have any success suing Postnord for their (employees’) actions during a work conflict. Not here in Scandinavia, where work conflicts are an accepted part of the game.
But perhaps the government or the plate manufacturer can be legally forced to try to work around the force majeure situation caused by this conflict, so the plates must be shipped through alternative channels. Perhaps.
Perhaps people have property rights, that unions can’t block in a fair country.
The plates are manufactured by the Swedish Transport Agency. They are obliged to deliver the plates through PostNord according to rules set by the government agency Kammarkollegiet (The Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency). As all agencies in Sweden, they work independently from the government. Therefore Tesla will have to take Kammarkollegiet to the Administrative Court, and if this happens, it will probably be appealed all the way up to the Supreme Administrative Court.
This would probably take a couple of years.
And PostNord are notorious for loosing packages. They should be called BlackHoleNord because that is where objects go to disappear!
It only took a few hours to get the first court instance to rule in Tesla’s favor:
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/Mo0V85/tesla-far-ut-sina-registreringsskyltar
I fail to see why Transportstyrelsen would have any motivation to appeal the court’s decision. They have no stakes in this game.
This isn’t a verdict in the actual court case though, it’s only temporary.
This won’t necessarily mean that Tesla will get their plates. Because I assume IF Metall has a presence at the number plate factory.
I believe all Tesla is asking is to be able to pick up the plates themselves.
Yeah, but that would be in violation of the Swedish postal workers collective bargaining agreement and thus illegal under Swedish law. The “solution” Tesla wants to a legal strike is to do illegal actions. Sweden isn’t the states. Tesla can play ball or get the fuck out
As far as I know the swedish postal workers aren’t striking.
/r/iamverybadass
They have a right to try the court even if it gets thrown out. This is Sweden. Not some country without a judicial system.
Tesla is already getting the plates. This ain’t Toys R Us they’re dealing with.
As opposed to using any other delivery service, where sympathy action could just as well happen. It’s not like the government deliberately picked a delivery company whose workers are hostile to Tesla.
When they learned that the plates were not being delivered, they did not provide relief by letting Tesla pick up the plates at no cost to the Transportation Authority.
While it would have been easy for the agency to do so, making special arrangements for a company to help them circumvent a labor conflict can easily be interpreted as taking sides, so it is well understandable that the government agency threads carefully here. It can well be argued that doing nothing is the neutral action.
My understanding is that today’s interim decision came before the defendant (the agency) was officially served or had answered the suit, so we don’t know what their arguments are really.