By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -U.S. carmaker Tesla Inc will be urged to respect collective bargaining for its employees in the Nordic region in a joint letter to be sent by a group of pension funds this week, four of the funds said on Monday.
Tesla is facing a backlash from unions and some pension funds in the region over its refusal to accept a demand from Swedish mechanics for collective bargaining rights covering wages and other conditions.
“Tesla’s attitude against the right to collective bargaining is of deep concern,” said a draft of the letter to the carmaker’s management provided by Norway’s largest pension fund KLP.
The Nordic region’s labour market model combines high job mobility with income security for the unemployed through a long tradition of dialogue between employer associations and labour unions.
“(This model) has enabled the Nordics to thrive as one of the most prosperous and harmonious regions worldwide,” the draft letter said.
The pension funds, which include Sweden’s Folksam and Denmark’s PFA and PensionDanmark, in the letter plan to ask for a meeting with Tesla.
“This isn’t just about the labour model in the Nordic but about fundamental human rights,” said Kiran Aziz, head of responsible investments at KLP, which holds Tesla shares worth roughly $210 million.
Tesla has managed to avoid collective bargaining agreements with its roughly 127,000 workers, and CEO Elon Musk has been vocal about his opposition to unions.
The company’s spokesperson in the Nordics did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
A labour dispute between Tesla and a Swedish trade union has sparked sympathy strikes across the region and prompted some pension funds to sell their shares in the company.
Tesla, which has revolutionised the electric car market, says its Swedish employees have as good or better terms than those the union is demanding.
“As investors in Tesla, we recognise the company’s great contribution to the electrification of the transport sector, but at the same time call on the management to seek a resolution to the conflict,” Rasmus Bessing, head of responsible investments at PFA told Reuters.
PFA held shares in Tesla worth around $275 million as of the end of June.
The deadline to co-sign the letter was extended to this week due to high interest from investors, according to Kiran Aziz, head of responsible investments at KLP.
Sweden’s Folksam and Denmark’s PensionDanmark said they will also sign the letter.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Tesla’s 7th biggest shareholder with a $6.8 billion stake, last week said it would continue to push the company to respect labour rights such as collective bargaining.
Norges Bank Investment Management, the manager of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, was not among the signatories to the letter, a spokesperson for the fund said.
($1 = 6.9323 Danish crowns)
($1 = 10.9598 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; editing by Terje Solsvik and Jason Neely)
