a day ago
Swedish pension fund blacklists Tesla, divests stake
Swedish pension fund AP7 said yesterday it had blacklisted Tesla over the US company's lack of respect for labour rights in the US, and had sold off its $1.4 billion stake in the US carmaker.
The fund said in a statement that it had decided 'to blacklist Tesla due to verified violations of union rights in the United States.'
'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,' the fund said.
AP7 spokesman Mikael Lindh Hok told AFP the fund had divested its entire stake, worth 13 billion kronor ($1.4 billion), in late May.
He said the stake represented one percent of the fund's total assets.
The electric carmaker has also been involved in a labour dispute with Swedish unions since 2023.
In late October of that year, the metal workers union IF Metall launched a strike against Tesla over its refusal to sign a collective wage agreement, and some 130 mechanics at 10 Tesla repair shops in seven cities walked off the job.
IF Metall then extended the strike to include work on Teslas at other repair shops which served multiple brands.
The strike then grew into a larger conflict between Tesla and almost a dozen unions seeking to protect Sweden's labour model, including postal workers, dock workers and even spreading to neighbouring Nordic countries.
Tesla chief Elon Musk has long rejected calls to allow the company's employees worldwide to unionise.
