The fight over Tesla Inc.'s Elon Musk's compensation package and a vote on whether to move the company's headquarters to Texas were dominating attention ahead of the company's shareholders meeting on Thursday, but not for investors in Nordic countries.
Tesla's major shareholders in Sweden, Denmark and Norway are hoping the meeting will bring the issue of workers' rights at the carmaker to the forefront.
The movement is fuelled by a strike by Tesla mechanics in Sweden, a dispute now in its sixth month that has drawn trade unions from the region to join blockades aimed at forcing the US carmaker to the negotiating table and reach a collective bargaining agreement with Swedish workers.
Several major shareholders from Nordic countries are urging other shareholders to support a proposal that would require Tesla to respect workers' right to assembly.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. The company continues to resist labor unions, even in European countries with strong union traditions. Mr. Musk has voiced his disdain for unions. “I'm against the idea of ​​unions,” he said at the DealBook Summit in New York last year.
Tesla's factories are not unionized, which could give the company an advantage over rivals such as Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG, which must pay union wages. But in the United States, Tesla is a key target of the United Auto Workers union, which is in a strong position after recently winning the first big pay hikes in years for workers at unionized factories.
The proposal put to the vote on Thursday was submitted by Swedish insurer Folksam Group, a Canadian pension fund and a U.S. equity fund. They jointly ask Tesla's board to adopt a policy committing to “non-interference and good faith negotiation in accordance with internationally recognized human rights standards on freedom of association and collective bargaining,” according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Supporters of the proposal, which goes to a vote on Thursday, include Norway's largest pension fund, KLP, which holds 900,000 Tesla shares worth 1.7 billion Norwegian kroner ($162 million).
“As long-term investors, we expect the companies we invest in to adhere to the highest international standards in their business operations, especially when they operate around the world where standards may differ from country to country,” said Kiran Aziz, head of responsible investment at KLP.
The Norwegian fund was one of several Nordic investors that wrote to Tesla management last year about labor rights issues.
Despite the strike and the campaign by Nordic shareholders, Mr Musk has strong support among many of Sweden's tech-savvy drivers. A majority of Swedes have voiced support for the strike, many of whom are fans of Mr Musk. Tesla sold 20,400 cars in Sweden last year, and the Model Y is the country's best-selling car.
Tesla mechanics from the IF Metall union walked out on the job in late October. Dozens remain on strike, with the union picketing company facilities across Sweden.
The unions claim Tesla is ignoring Sweden's tradition of collective bargaining agreements. Around 90% of Swedish workers are covered by these agreements, which apply to non-union workers as well and set working conditions across industries.
Tesla maintains that it pays its employees competitive wages and complies with local labor laws, and refuses to participate in the collective bargaining process that would establish such agreements.
That hasn't stopped the union from rallying more than a dozen other unions to support its side through sympathy measures allowed by Swedish law. Workers in other industries have refused for months to provide services for Tesla, from unloading cars at the port to removing trash and delivering new license plates.
Last month, Sweden's largest trade union, Unionen, joined a strike by workers inspecting the company's equipment.
Tesla has so far been able to find workarounds and continue operating without causing major disruptions to its customers.
Norwegian pension fund KLP also said it would vote against Musk's $46.5 billion compensation package. The pay vote is unrelated to the labor dispute, but the fund said “total compensation remains excessive” despite Tesla's significant growth. KLP also voted against the compensation package in 2018.
Major shareholders appear divided on whether to support the compensation package that was struck down by a Delaware judge in January. Tesla is now asking shareholders to approve it, and Musk has been lobbying shareholders for their support through his social media platform, X.
Responding to Musk's post calling for retail investors to be allowed to vote, some Swedish retail brokerages said they would break with European practice and allow their clients to vote at Thursday's annual meeting, upon request.
“We always want to do our best to accommodate our customers' wishes, and in this instance we decided to make an exception and allow them to vote at Tesla's annual meeting,” said Sofia Svaval, a spokeswoman for Stockholm-based online bank Avanza.
Jack Ewing Contributed report.