Gary Zhou 
Key Points
- ⚠️ A sympathy strike by Swedish company Hydro Extrusions Vetlanda, a Tesla Giga Berlin supplier, could disrupt vehicle production at Giga Berlin, according to IF Metall union.
- 🚗 The strike aims to cause serious disruptions in production, but Hydro Extrusions CEO expresses reservations, suggesting Tesla may quickly replace the parts from other suppliers.
- 🌐 Tesla, having prepared for the sympathy strike, may tap suppliers from the U.S. or China to maintain Model Y production in Giga Berlin.
- 🇸🇪 The strike may pose a risk to Swedish jobs, and if Tesla replaces parts with non-Swedish suppliers, there could be potential layoffs at Hydro Extrusions Vetlanda.
- 🤔 Concerns about the strike’s long-term impact on jobs in Vetlanda, Finspång, and Sweden, emphasizing the need for a quick solution.
Earlier this month, Swedish union IF Metall stated that it was looking to stop vehicle production at Tesla Giga Berlin. The key to the union’s plan was Hydro Extrusions Vetlanda, a Swedish company that makes aluminum profiles for the Model Y crossovers that are produced at the plant. Hydro Extrusions Vetlanda is involved in a sympathy strike and blockade.
“There will be serious disruptions in production, and that is of course the aim… Without that detail, you cannot deliver the car,” IF Metall strike general Veli-Pekka Säikkälä noted.
Hydro Extrusions Vetlanda’s participation in the ongoing strike against Tesla is expected to start this Friday. Hydro Extrusions CEO Jonas Bjuhr, however, has some reservations. In a comment to Vetlandaposten, the executive stated that Tesla may be able to quickly replace the parts that the company produces from other suppliers.
If this were to happen, IF Metall’s plans of shutting down Giga Berlin may not pan out. What’s more, Bjuhr noted that the strike may instead result in Swedish jobs being threatened and moving elsewhere, as noted in a CarUp report. Tesla, after all, has had time to prepare for the impending sympathy strike from Hydro Extrusions, so the electric vehicle maker may already have contingencies in place.
“It is nothing unusual, so I am convinced that all the customers we work with have a plan for how to handle a situation when it stops,” Bjuhr noted.
The Tesla Model Y is currently produced in three countries: the United States, China, and Germany. To deal with the upcoming sympathy strike, Tesla may end up tapping the suppliers it uses in the United States or China.
Bjuhr noted that if Tesla replaces the Giga Berlin-made Model Y’s parts with components from non-Swedish suppliers, there is no certainty that they will be returned when the strike is over. If this happens, there might be layoffs at Hydro Extrusions Vetlanda.
“So our wish is really that there can be a solution quickly. It is clear that we want to protect jobs in Vetlanda, jobs in Finspång, and jobs in Sweden in general. It is what is the big concern here that if it becomes long-term, it could have consequences that are greater than what we see now,” Bjuhr said.
