Swedish court upholds ruling against Tesla in labour dispute

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Swedish district court on Friday upheld a preliminary ruling that Sweden's postal service Postnord does not need to deliver licence plates to Tesla, which are being blocked by the postal workers as part of a wider labour union sympathy strike.

The U.S. car maker faces pressure in the Nordic countries from powerful employee unions backing mechanics from Sweden's IF Metall union, who went on strike in October of 2023 demanding a collective bargaining agreement with the company.

But while the postal blockade makes access to licence plates more difficult, Swedish media has reported that the company found ways to circumvent the unions by asking car buyers to order plates themselves.

The Nordic region is a key market for Tesla, which has a policy of not agreeing to collective bargaining and has said its staff have as good or better terms than those IF Metall is demanding.

The electric vehicle maker has increased its sales and boosted its share of the Swedish car market in 2024 despite the labour boycott, car sales data showed earlier this month.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Chizu Nomiyama)