The unions representing dockworkers in Danish and Norwegian ports as well as the workers who transport cars plan to refuse to handle Tesla automobiles bound for Sweden in sympathy strikes supporting the ongoing action in Sweden. The two unions severed strike notices yesterday and today in response to reports that Tesla might be seeking to divert cars bound for Sweden into neighboring countries and drive them across the border after Sweden unions closed all the country’s ports to the manufacturer’s auto imports.

What began as a small strike in Sweden seeking an enterprise agreement for about 120 to 130 mechanics who work in Tesla’s maintenance operations is quickly becoming a regional issue with both sides deeply entrenched. Sweden’s powerful union IF Metall, which says it has over 300,000 members in the manufacturing, chemical, mining, and automotive industries, launched the strike on October 27 after prolonged attempts at negotiations with Tesla.

IF Metall contends that more than 90 percent of Sweden’s workers are covered by enterprise agreements, noting “Collective agreements are the basis of the Swedish labor market. They argue they are fighting for “decent and safe working conditions,” with the agreements covering wages, form of employment, occupational pension, working hours, vacations, and periods of notice. They note with these agreements in place, there is an obligation to maintain labor peace noting there are very few labor market conflicts in Sweden.

Tesla’s flamboyant CEO Elon Musk is an outspoken critic of unions. Speaking with The New York Times he recently said “I disagree with the idea of unions. I think unions naturally try to create negativity in a company.”

After launching the strike, IF Metall appealed to its peers for support. The union representing Sweden’s dockworkers initially said it would not handle the cars at four ports but later widened the ban to all Tesla cars at all ports or entering the country. Other unions across Sweden also joined in support of the strike including the country’s postal workers who are refusing to handle packages including the license plates needed to deliver Tesla cars to buyers. Tesla sued the post office and Swedish Transport Authority, but today a court stayed a temporary injunction leaving it to the appeals court to decide the issue. So for now, Tesla has no way to get license plates in Sweden.

Denmark’s 3F union issued a statement on December 5 announcing that it had filed a notice to stop offloading and transporting Tesla vehicles to Sweden. There had been speculation that Tesla might begin trucking cars across the Øresund bridge from Denmark, which would be about a seven-hour drive to reach its facilities in Sweden. Tesla’s electric vehicles are the most popular models in Sweden with buyers often already waiting for deliveries.

“IF Metall and the Swedish workers are currently fighting an incredibly important battle. When they ask for our support, we naturally back up,” said Jan Villadsen, chairman of 3F Transport. “Even if you are one of the richest people in the world, you can’t just make your own rules. We have some agreements on the labor market in the Nordics, and you have to comply with them if you want to do business here. Solidarity is the cornerstone of the trade union movement and extends across national borders.”

Reports indicate it is the first time in seven years that neighboring labor unions have crossed borders in support of each other in Scandinavia. Swedish pilots in 2015 supported a strike by pilots in Norway and indications are that the Norwegian are now ready to also provide support in the Tesla strike.

Fellesforbundet, which calls itself the largest union in the private sector in Norway and represents employees in industry, car workshops, ports, and transport, announced today that it has also filed a two-week notice to commence a boycott aimed at the transport of Tesla cars to the Swedish market. Echoing the sentiments of their Danish colleagues and the Swedish union that represents the dockworkers, Fellesforbundet leader Jørn Eggum said in his statement, “In the Nordic countries, there is broad agreement about the importance of a well-organized working life… The right to demand a collective agreement is a natural part of our working life, and we cannot accept that Tesla stands outside this.”

Media reports indicate that the expansion of the strike and supporting boycotts might reach further. Finland’s unions are reportedly considering launching a similar boycott against Tesla. The manufacturer’s nearest facility to Sweden would become Germany, but reports highlight the impracticality of attempting to transport the cars from Germany. The Danish and Norwegian boycotts will launch in two weeks after the notice period has been completed.

Following years of intensive studies and consultations, the Western Australian (WA) government has unveiled its preferred design and location for the relocation of the container operations currently in Fremantle. The port, which handles nearly all the container traffic for all of Western Australia is quickly running out of capacity and also occupies prime real estate which official highlight could be better used for the city.

The preferred design and location unveiled by the WA government on November 29 calls for the relocation of the container operations from its current location to Kwinana, approximately 15 miles to the south, and uniting the container operations with the existing bulk cargo operations. Known as the Westport Project the container operations would be adjacent to the existing Outer Harbour, which is one of Australia’s major bulk cargo ports handling grain, petroleum, liquid petroleum gas, alumina, mineral sands, fertilizers, coal, sulfur, iron ore, and other bulk commodities.

The planning for the new container terminal has been ongoing for years with officials highlighting the concept of placing containers in Kwinana was first suggested in 2006. Between 2018 and 2020, they report the Westport Taskforce explored 25 different locations ranging from Fremantle to Cockburn Sound and Bunbury for the new container terminal before selecting the preferred location. They started with 30 different design options, narrowing it first to seven and then three before selecting the design that they believe provides the best opportunities as well as environmental outcomes.

Currently, the port which is located in the Fremantle Inner Harbour in Perth, handles imports and exports of around 800,000 containers with terminals operated by DP World and Patrick. However, this port infrastructure and its surrounding roads are expected to reach capacity within the next two decades, hence the necessity for a new terminal. Long-term planning calls for the port to grow to more than three million containers over the next 50 years.

 

Government officials released the preferred design for the new container port (Fremantle Ports)

 

The new design includes a container terminal adjacent to the shoreline of the current Kwinana Bulk Terminal. Another aspect is a new breakwater to provide enhanced protection to the port and docked ships. The design will allow the new container terminal to handle larger ships than the existing Fremantle terminal and also incorporates redevelopment of the aging Kwinana Bulk Terminal jetty. The new facility would also be supported by an enhanced multi-modal infrastructure with road and rail links.

“A world-class port in Kwinana is critical for our state to remain a global economic and industrial powerhouse for decades to come,” said WA Premier Roger Cook. “Through this design, we can ensure WA can continue to meet trade demand long into the future while strengthening our supply lines.”

The move to relocate Fremantle Port is also expected to unlock around 260 hectares of prime inner urban land in Fremantle. The state government has indicated it wants to transform the space into a “vibrant precinct” to cater to WA’s growing population. One proposal is to establish a public space and residential facilities. Fremantle Port would continue to be a working port for cruise ships, visiting naval vessels, and recreational craft.

The next step is the development of a project business case report, scheduled to be finalized by mid-2024. Previously the budget for the project was set at A$4 billion (US$2.7 billion) but government officials said that was pre-pandemic and they expect to determine the timeline and cost for the new terminal based in the next phase of the project.

After days of heavy rains in Kenya’s coastal region, the country’s railways operator has announced disruptions in evacuation of cargo from the Port of Mombasa to the inland container depot in Nairobi.

Kenya is currently experiencing heavy rains linked to El Nino phenomenon. This has left scores of people displaced by floods and around fifty feared dead.

According to Kenya Railways, the rains have also led to wash-aways and landslides in various sections of the 300 miles SGR (Standard Gauge Railway) running from Mombasa to Nairobi.

“Consequently, this has affected normal train operations including cargo transfers, loading as well as offloading activities at the Port of Mombasa. A section of the SGR corridor between Mombasa Terminus and Mariakani, has experienced a landslide which has resulted [in] the closure of the section for all freight trains,” Kenya Railways said in a statement over the weekend.

The SGR cargo freight service from Mombasa Port started in 2018. It is mainly used to haul containerized cargo to dry ports in Nairobi and Naivasha. Over time, evacuation of cargo along the corridor has surged from 2.9 million tons in 2018 to over 6 million tons last year.

A Russian cargo ship and a dry bulk carrier collided off the coast of Bulgaria on November 8 and while no one was injured the circumstances of the incident remain unclear. The bulker continued on course to Turkey, while the Russian vessel returned to port reporting that it had taken on water in its ballast tanks.

The Ukrainian Energy Ministry reported the incident on its Telegram account and observers quickly noted that the Russian vessel was not following its normal course. It is unclear why the vessel was traveling north of its normal route between Varna, Bulgaria and the Russian Caucasus region.

The Slavyanin is a Ro/Ro cargo ship operating between Varna, Bulgaria and the Kavkaz area of Russia located between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Registered in the Russian Federation, the vessel was built in 1984 and has been running for at least a decade on this route. She is approximately 492 feet in length and 6,580 dwt and is used to transport rail tankers loaded with LNG.

 

Damage reportedly from the collision is visible at the rail 

 

The Russian ship had departed Varna on November 7 and the collision happened about 80 nautical miles to the northeast near the Bulgarian Cape Shabla, which would be north of her normal route. The incident was reported to have happened early on November 8 and the Slavyanin returned to Varna later the same day. Reports are that three of the ship’s ballast tanks had flooded due to a hole in the hull and photos show a small deformation at the rail level as well. The flooding did not reach the engine room and there were no reports of a release of oil.

The other vessel was a Palau-registered bulker, New Rouf, a 6,000 dwt dry bulk carrier. She had departed Izmail, Ukraine, and was bound for Turkey and then on to Egypt. She appears to have continued and arrived at the Istanbul anchorage yesterday, November 9. The vessel is managed out of Romania.

Media reports from Romania are saying the Turkish authorities were asked to investigate the incident when the ship reached its anchorage.

The Swedish Transport Workers Union (Svenska Transportarbetareförbundet) is threatening to stop handling Tesla’s electrical vehicles arriving at the country’s four major ports. The union has filed a notice of support for Sweden’s Industrifacket Metall a trade union that went on strike last week against Tesla.

IF Metall is one of the largest trade unions in Sweden with reports of over 240,000 members working in a broad range of industries. Covering everything from building materials to mining and the auto industry and auto repair shops, the union is striking for a collective bargaining agreement with Tesla. As many as 90 percent of Sweden’s workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements.

The current strike is over the ability of the union to negotiate for members on issues from wages to pensions and insurance. IF Metall’s contract secretary Veli-Pekka Säikkälä said a strike is an unusual step but the union says Tesla Sweden has made clear its position that it is not relevant to sign a collective agreement. The walkout began on October 27 and IF Metall has served notice that it plans to expand the strike starting today, November 3, to cover Tesla’s authorized repair shops.

As part of the effort, IF Metall also put out a call for support efforts by other unions and now the Transport Workers served notice that they will begin to honor strike as of November 7. They announced that they will no longer handle shipments of Tesla cars and parts arriving at the ports of Malmö (Copenhagen Malmö Port AB), Södertälje (Södertälje Hamn AB), Gothenburg (Logent Ports & Terminal AB Gothenburg), and Trelleborg (Trelleborg Hamn AB).

The Transport Workers are saying they will stand with the union and not handle Tesla until it signs a collective agreement with IF Metall. Talks have resumed with Tesla but so far are not showing any signs of an agreement.

The Tesla Model Y is reported by Clean Technica to be the overall bestseller in Sweden. In September, they calculated from registrations that 3,050 Model Y cars were sold nearing the record of 3,202 cars in March 2023. The Tesla Model Y is reported to have sold nearly three times as many cars in Sweden in September as its nearest rival the Volkswagen ID.4. Year-to-date 13,457 Model Y have been registered with Clean Technica highlighting, “That means almost one in every 15 cars sold this year is a Tesla Model Y!”

Based on registration data, electric vehicles account for two-thirds of all cars now sold in Sweden up from just over 55 percent a year ago. In September, fully electric vehicles accounted for 40 percent of the new registrations while plug-in hybrids were a further 20 percent, equal to the percent of gasoline-powered cars registered in the month.

Tommy Wreeth, Transport’s union chairman said “In Sweden and in the Swedish labor market, we have collective agreements. Transport will always stand up for that. Tesla employees must of course also be covered by safe and decent conditions.”

Transport promises a blockade against all loading and unloading of Tesla cars in the four ports until the company reaches an agreement with its workers.