Postnord cannot order its employees to deliver mail to Tesla.
This is what the company writes in a statement to the Solna district court - where they also refer to “force majeure”.
It was on Monday that Tesla sued the Swedish Transport Agency and Postnord, after the electric car manufacturer did not receive registration plates for new cars distributed. This is because the postmen and other employees are members of trade unions that strike in sympathy with Tesla in the company’s conflict with IF Metall.
Now Postnord responds in a statement to the Solna District Court.
Postnord about Tesla: “Not true” Initially, the company writes, via the law firm Mannheimer Swartling, that Tesla’s lawsuit is “characterized by invective and irrelevant descriptions” and that it is not true that Postnord’s actions would be “system threatening” or some kind of “attack” against Tesla.
- That we would have such an attitude or work in the manner alleged in the lawsuit is unrealistic and incorrect, says Anders Porelius, press manager at Postnord, in a press release.
Postnord claims to be neutral and outside the conflict between Tesla and the unions, but believes that it has an “obligation to respect the measures taken”.
“Postnord assesses that Seko’s and ST’s sympathy measures constitute both a legal and a practical obstacle for Postnord to provide Tesla shipments that are addressed to Tesla,” the company writes in its statement.
Refers to force majeure According to Postnord, the company has no control over the situation and therefore refers to force majeure. The company also emphasizes that the right to strike is constitutionally protected, and therefore applies over and above the distribution obligation in the Postal Act.
In the 14-page opinion, the lawyers at Mannheimer and Swartling then go through why they believe that Tesla’s request for interim security measures should be rejected. They write, among other things, that Postnord’s agreement is with the Swedish Transport Agency and not with Tesla, so if there is anyone who can request the ordered signs, it is the Swedish Transport Agency. They also write that Tesla can “easily” order new signs and collect them from the manufacturer.
The Solna district court must now decide what obligations Postnord has pending trial.
Unfortunately Tesla also sued the Swedish Transport Agency and been temporarily granted the right to collect the plates from the manufacturer. That is, assuming the STA complies with that court order instead of accepting the fines. They haven’t decided that part yet.
https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/sverige/tesla-far-ratt-mot-svenska-staten/
They should accept the fines. It should be made clear that you need to accept unions to operate in Sweden
Putting the whole Tesla issue aside, can someone explain to me - a casual oberver - how it’s legal for a delivery company to Sweden to refuse to deliver to a particular customer?
In a hypothetical example, let’s say they don’t like a particular shoe store. Can they just stop delivering mail to the shoe store?
I’m not seeing how this could be legally reasonable, once it’s generalized to pertain to any given business. Could someone explain?
I suppose this would be especially relevant if the mail comes from a government agency? I assume the Swedish Transport Agency is a government agency. I guess it would seem reasonable if only private parties were involved… but why should a private transport company be allowed to prevent delivery of mail sent by the Swedish government? (Again, pardon me if I misunderstand the situation.)
Because almost all workers in Sweden are part of unions, those unions often work with the other unions and sympathy strike. Which means that they will not work with the company the unions are striking against.
This is so that the companies cannot bypass the strikes, which is often the case in other countries without as strong unions as Sweden does.
Sure, I get the idea of union camaraderie and deep cultural integration. But, that doesn’t really answer the question…
Can a delivery company refuse to deliver mail to any person or company due to personal beliefs?
When the mail originates from the Swedish government, sent to a company, is the delivery company allowed to block delivery?
If you remove Tesla from the story, and generalize the question, I still wonder how this can be legal?
That’s not the issue being debated. It’s not the delivery company refusing to deliver to a specific company, it’s the employees. The delivery company is arguing that they cannot compel the union and it’s not their business. They are saying that this is between Tesla and their employee’s union. Tesla is arguing that the delivery company must compel them.
Imagine how much richer Musk could be and how much larger Tesla would be, if Musk wasnt a narcissist man child.
