Swedish pension fund AP7 blacklists Tesla, says union rights violations in U.S. crossed the ethical line
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Sweden's pension fund, AP7, which stands for Sjunde AP-fonden or Seventh AP Fund, has blacklisted and fully divested from US electric vehicle giant Tesla because of the EV maker's alleged violations of union rights in the United States, as per Reuters.The pension fund wrote in a statement to Reuters, "AP7 has decided to blacklist Tesla due to verified violations of labor rights in the United States," as quoted in the report.AP7 also highlighted that, "Despite several years of dialogue with Tesla, including shareholder proposals in collaboration with other investors, the company has not taken sufficient measures to address the issues," quoted Reuters.The pension fund's spokesperson revealed that the fund's stake in Tesla was worth about $1.36 billion when it was sold in late May, Reuters reported. During the time of the sell-off, AP7's stake in Tesla represented about 1% of the AP7 Equity Fund, according to the report.According to Investing.com, the EV maker had employed about 70,000 workers in the United States at the end of 2024 and is the only American automaker whose workers are currently not represented by a union.Many unionisation efforts have consistently failed until now, like those by the United Auto Workers, the United Steelworkers, Workers United, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Investing.com reported.Tesla has also been in a conflict with IF Metall, a Swedish trade union, after the IF Metall workers' union initiated a strike, accusing the EV maker of refusing to join a collective wage agreement, as per Brussels Times.The company's CEO, Elon Musk, has repeatedly dismissed calls for unionisation within his global workforce, according to Brussels Times.Because Tesla was found to have violated labor rights in the US, and after years of engagement, AP7 felt the company failed to make any changes.Roughly $1.36 billion when it was sold in late May 2025.
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