Swedish companies are nearly a year into a dispute with Elon Musk’s Tesla, over trade union recognition. Unions are powerful here, with 90% membership, and ‘collective bargaining’ being (I think) a legal requirement in industrial disputes.
This is rather like the reform that the late great Labour politician Barbara Castle recommended for Britain under Harold Wilson in her In Place of Strife white paper, before the foolish British unions (and Wilson) turned it down. I suspect it’s one reason for Sweden’s rather better record on the manufacturing front than Britain’s over the last several years. (See https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/01/one-year-on-we-know-this-swedens-trade-unions-are-more-than-a-match-for-elon-musk.)
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By the way (and continuing on from my last post): The Apprentice (film) is well worth watching. The real star is not Sebastian Stam, who plays Trump, but Jeremy Strong, who was also in Succession. Here he plays another villain, the evil Roy Cohn (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Cohn), Trump’s ‘go to’ lawyer, and apparently the most malign influence on him.
I can see why Trump hates the movie so much; and can’t really see why any American who sees it could ever vote for him. Perhaps Cohn’s persona and message – ‘you’re either killer or a loser’ – appeals to them?
Porter’s Pensées 
Very interesting. Heaven knows what damage Musk would do under a Trump administration.
Curiously enough, Digicel, the company founded by Denis O’Brien, the billionaire Irish slavery reparations campaigner, has also been reluctant to recognise trade unions in the Caribbean:
https://www.tribune242.com/news/2015/feb/16/digicel-well-cross-union-bridge-when-we-reach-it/
O’Brien no longer controls the company and is a non-executive director. He’s also very litigious, so I’ll leave you to read up on his business history. His style of operation has been dubbed “philanthrocapitalism”.
And of course, Jeff Bezos, owner of liberal bastion the Washington Post, isn’t keen on unionisation at Amazon. And it seems he’s not sure which candidate to support tomorrow.
It’s a funny old world.
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Yes, In Place of Strife was a huge missed opportunity. Although on a different occasion, Sid Weighell gave due warning…
And yes The Apprentice is a great film. Both actors are excellent.
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