2y ago

Elon Musk calls strikes ‘insane’ as Swedish workers take on Tesla

www.theguardian.com

Elon Musk has decried a wave of “insane” strikes focused on Tesla workshops in Sweden, as workers target the US electric car manufacturer in a strike calling for collective bargaining rights.

In what has been portrayed as the largest fight in decades to save Sweden’s union model from global labour practices, the powerful trade union IF Metall has been leading a strike across eight Tesla workplaces in Sweden for five weeks.

It is the first time workers for the US carmaker have gone on strike and on Thursday, Musk, the tech billionaire and chief executive of Tesla, made his feelings clear, writing on X, formerly Twitter: “This is insane.”

128 comments

Cry harder billionaire.
Literally made his money on exploitation and lies. SpaceX is amazing, but built on much smarter minds; he was just the wallet. And he bought Tesla and has been lying and overpromising since he did.
- NASA could do what SpaceX does if we gave NASA the money we gave SpaceX. I won't even give him credit for that.
  
  And don’t change their goals every 4-8 years. It is hard to accomplish a 10 year project if you can’t guarantee you’ll still be working on it in 10 years.
  
  Wtf are you on about? We give SpaceX nowhere near the funds we give NASA.
  We gave NASA $25 billion this year.
  SpaceX was awarded a $2.9B contract to fund the entire "land starship on the moon" program (a non cost+ contact I might add) spanning multiple years. They launched two sets of crew to the iss this year, at an estimated cost of ~700m. They have had one cargo mission this year at a cost of about $150m.
  
  Doubtful, big administrations have big issues with productivity and meeting goals. Not that I think it is thanks to Musk, but startups/scaleups organizations are often much more efficient than traditional companies and administrations.
  I think every engineer who has worked both at a big traditional company and a startup can confirm.
  
  Meh another repeat of private shark corp vs government zombie group, would be interesting though
- But didn't he also go above and beyond to have him portrayed as founder of SpaceX?
  
  Yeah, and I'm fairly certain he bought the right to be called 'founder' of Tesla... From the founders.
  
  That's what all "visionary entrepreneurs" do. They pretend like they made every single product they sell with their bare hands and all the engineers and scientists designing them and the factory workers fabricating them are just for decoration.
  I'm also convinced that they've breathed enough of their own farts that they genuinely believe most of the things they say.
- Literally made his money on exploitation and lies. SpaceX is amazing, but built on much smarter minds; he was just the wallet.
  Not to mention 100's of millions of subsidies from the US government. Space X could never have survived with only his wealth!
- His real skill is getting people to work hard. And he brought the iterative design he learned in software development to the physical world. Pared with family money, hire the right people to do the work, and you get SpaceX.
  
  His real skill is getting people to work hard.
  Did you really just say that on a post about how his workers are striking?! LOL!
Musk whines: "This isn't fair, I'm rich, poor people have to do what I say! Get back to work peasants! Why isn't it working?!"
Hmmm calling your workers insane for striking due to their lives and wellbeings endangered, seems entirely responsible and in no way insane.
Is he out of touch? No it is the workers who are wrong.
- He's actually referring to the sympathy strikers. No Tesla can get a licence plate or registered in solidarity with the autoworkers.
- Well, SOMEONE is gonna have to make sacrifices and we all know that it can't be the rich guy, so...
I feel like if someone is insane, it must be Musk, trying to circumvent the unions in a Nordic country, which have one some of the strongest unions and union culture in the world.
- They used to have an even greater influence... These days there are no real extended demands, just smaller pay rises for many unions. And the social democratic political parties have severed the historical ties to them i many countries.
  The collective agreements are still pretty strong, with unions blocking companies unwilling to agree to these collective Agreements.
  Like when Burger King came to Denmark I believe it was, they refused to make collective agreements, and like in Sweden now, many other unions joined in year long boycotts until Burger King caved and agreed to comply.
  McDonald's made collective agreements from the start, but had some tax evasion scheme that resulted in them not paying any taxes for decades up until fairly recently.
  There is still cross union solidarity, that flair up now and again. But lobbied so called "yellow unions", that offers economical security benifits but without politics for a much lower fee price have chipped away at the older more classic unions.
  The US is one of the most active places union wise these days. God knows they need it.
Typical rich person mentality. How easily they forget they don’t create wealth in a vacuum. People are only that rich off the hard work of other people
The sound of strong unions is music to my ears.
- There are almost no minimum wage laws but 90% of workers are unionized or represented in some way. They strike very rarely because employers know unions are strong there but when they do, oh boy the whole country is behind the workers on strike.
  130 mechanics started the whole thing!
  
  Good for them. This abuse of workers collective bargaining rights is just divide and conquer. Unions cannot work if you allow them to disappear.
  
  It has to be said that the unions in Sweden do not want minimum wage because it would give employers another argument against them in negotiations. Even Elon uses it in countries that do have it.
- I would love it if people would just stop talking about him
  
  do you think that will make him go away? Stop shining a light on the dark and disgusting in the hopes that they just disappear? Doesn't work like that pal.
  If you actually cared, there are ways of stopping phony stark from coming up in your feed, yet here you are
  
  who? Elon Musk you mean? That brilliant billionaire inventor and leader?
- dude he HAS a massive PR team to keep his image up, hell that PR Team is the only reason why people had this image of him in the first place
  
  He has literally fired most (not sure if all?) of Tesla's PR team in the past as well as Twitter's. Guy doesn't believe PR is worthwhile.
- For a while there I had hope he was doing it so he could run as a republican and then do a flip on them when he got elected.
  Just started passing things usually called literal.
  This was 5 years ago
- Evidently he has Asperger's, so there might be a non-nefarious explanation for his lack of understanding of social things and why he is both simultaneously so successful/creative but also completely socially inept.
  He might be actually incapable of understanding others' perspectives.
  
  You do not need to understand others on an emotional level for this, you can come pretty far on rationals alone. This excuse might work in a personal relationship, not here.
  
  Not this again, really just shitting on Autistic people by saying stuff like this.
- I still believe in him
I’ll take “Things petulant billionaires say when they don’t get their way” for $1000, Alex.
- He's so persecuted. Guys, guys, be nice to Elon. He's just the victim here. There's no way these strikes are a direct response to his policies and business practices.
  Poor thing.
Poor guy. It must be so difficult watching his workers joining together to demand their fair share of his company’s profits. It’d be a real shame if workers in other countries follow suit. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it must be to be a billionaire. Those poor bastards.
- If workers tried this in Canada the police would roll them over.
  It’s a crime to block roads and railways in protest here, unless the police like you, then they take selfies with you.
  
  Well, Tesla doesn't have a production facility in Canada, AFAIK. However...Germany has...and i think he's going to regret that big time.
- Musk could spend a million dollars per day for 500 years and still be a billionaire. That’s a literally incomprehensible amount of money.
  He could single-handedly end world hunger and barely notice a difference in his staggering wealth. Just paying his fair share of taxes would have a seismic effect on the US in so many ways, but instead he hoards more and more, siphoning wealth from those who need it most into coffers so large, he can’t even really notice.
  It’s obscene.
  
  Totally is. And the appetite doesn’t seem to be anywhere near the tipping point yet. Unfortunate.
“They are insane” = “I’m so far out of touch I can’t understand people who work for a living”
- “people giving a shit about the other people in their country”
- More like ‘I’m a sociopath who thinks petty things like empathy and basic human rights are stupid. Now get back to work, my servants are meant to be seen, not heard.’
I mean, he makes several hundred times what any of those workers make. That's because his labor is just soooo much more valuable than anything they could do, should be easy for him do all their work too, right?...right?
Yeah, just a friendly reminder that no rich person is "self-made." Their wealth (especially billionaires) is built off the backs of hundreds, often thousands of exploited workers, combined with favors and handouts from the government.
I love watching Musk screech and scream while his ass gets clapped by unions, keep it up!
- I mean, he makes several hundred times what any of those workers make.
  Not several hundred times more. A million times more. If you made 100k, he made 1000 x 1000 as much as you to make 100 billion.
  A billion dollars is an unfathomable amount of money. A hundred billion is unknowable. If anything, your points are even more poignant.
I’m an American that hasn’t been to many other countries, but Sweden is fortunately one of them. The culture is different from what I’m used to, and it boils down to respecting the dignity of the people around you, and in the process respecting yourself as well.
So, it’s very nice to see the solidarity of the workers, but also not surprising. In a good way.
Billionaires, the true Unskilled Worker
- Worker is a bit of a stretch.
"Waaaah my precious market forces are working against me."
They've seen 50-100% payrises in many cases - unions are important.
- Unions that are bottom up organizations are important, Unions that are beholden to the political class are just a way to control us.
  
  Sure, I guess.
  Eating vegetables is good too - rotten vegetables are bad to eat though.
LOL, being forced to burn $44 billion on Twitter was completely rational.
- Ikr, genial some might say
America are you awake
- At this hour? I doubt it.
Far åt fanders, surgubbe!
- I have no idea what this means but I'm sure it's a phrase I'd use a lot at work.
  
  There is no litteral translation that I can find, but an approximate would be:
  Go to heck, old man!
Waiting for Noway and Denmark to join in and make it even more insane
- Given the recent Dutch election I suspect trade unions may not be participating...
  
  What does the Dutch election have to do with unions in Sweden, Noway and Denmark?
- I know there are Tesla Factories in Norway, but I don't think there are any in Denmark. I'm Danish, but I could be wrong.
  
  It's more about the sympathy striking. If danish post clerks did not deliver letters to Tesla's offices or like in Sweden, they won't make number plates or unload them from the ships
Yes, it is insane to go against unions in a country with a high degree of unionisation, where collective bargaining agreements are signed exactly because they prevent industrial unrest by ensuring the relationship between management and workers isn't adverserial.
I mean, I say it's insane, but let's be honest. Musk is yet another arrogant American CEO who didn't do his research on how things work in non-domestic markets. It's as much stupidity and arrogance, as it is insanity. Imagine thinking you somehow know better than companies like McDonalds (who did sign agreements with unions).
Musk seems like the kind of guy who thinks about the Roman Empire entirley too much. So it's surprising that he's never heard of the expression 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.'
- Musk is yet another arrogant American CEO who didn't do his research on how things work in non-domestic markets. It's as much stupidity and arrogance, as it is insanity.
  He doesn't need to do his research. His obscene wealth makes him an expert on everything, you see.
- Musk is yet another arrogant American CEO who didn't do his research on how things work in non-domestic markets.
  Ironic, since he's South African.
  
  I know, I know. But American passport, American degree, America company.
Oh here is some of your own medicine, how does it taste?
"Strikes are insane!" declares man who thinks Jews aren't white people.
Nazicuntsayswhat
More Trump-like shit. Anyone who opposes him is 'deranged' or 'crazy'.
Elmo's clearly the one whose insane.
What a bizarre statement, given how he'll have to capitulate within a few weeks.
Elmo says something crazy. What a scoop.
- Elmo's great. Musk is a sentient sack of detritus.
The rabble refuses to do my perfect bidding?! This is insanity!!
@MicroWave Insane how, Elon? Seems you need sanity to cooperate enough to organize a strike.
If money is just a high score for you and you can literally buy whatever you want, of course a strike is "insane". It's just money, right? Why are they mad?
- For real, how much can a banana cost? 100 kronor??
Musk logic:
This is insane .... If it weren't for workers unions and advocates for human rights and regulating big corporations, I'd have all of you working as indentured slave laborers working for bread and water just to keep you alive for my benefit!
USA strikers should take notes
No, purchasing Twitter without knowing how to run it is "insane".
- Some people are more risk averse than others, some are more risk inclined
Isn't Musk just basically a venture capitalist? He's just fucking loud about it and has to have his fucked up fingers deep in all the pies?
No exactly the most constructive reply, mr. Musk. Though, you don't really have one isnt? Not the one that will be great for both sides anyway.
Skitsækk
Fuck Musk
Yes, Musk, we know you're insane.
It inspires hope to see other countries pick up the ball that the USA has been so consistently dropping.
@MicroWave
Swedish workers strike - best kind of 'insanity' , imo.
Fuck Musk.
So if you're watching this at Elon's house

128 comments