Whatever his personal flaws, Elon Musk has been a masterful business builder. Tesla and SpaceX are two of the more successful companies the South African-born entrepreneur has conceived or led. But now Musk has encountered an obstacle both tenacious and effective: Swedish trade unions. Not even the world’s some-time richest man and the world’s most valuable auto brand have been able to dislodge the unions from their long-standing place in the Swedish economy. That’s good news for every country that believes in tempering the market economy with its own national characteristics.

Whatever his personal flaws, Elon Musk has been a masterful business builder. Tesla and SpaceX are two of the more successful companies the South African-born entrepreneur has conceived or led. But now Musk has encountered an obstacle both tenacious and effective: Swedish trade unions. Not even the world’s some-time richest man and the world’s most valuable auto brand have been able to dislodge the unions from their long-standing place in the Swedish economy. That’s good news for every country that believes in tempering the market economy with its own national characteristics.

“This is insane,” Musk tweeted on Nov. 23, 2023. He was responding to news from Sweden: The communications workers union had announced that its members would no longer deliver letters and packages to Tesla. That meant, among other things, that number plates for Tesla cars would not be delivered. That, of course, made the cars undrivable.

The communications workers union—known as Seko—was just the latest group to launch so-called sympathy strikes against the American carmaker. The transport workers union had already stopped handling Tesla cars arriving in Swedish ports, and so had the dockworkers union. The electricians union had stopped installing and servicing Tesla charging points. The custodians union had stopped cleaning the company’s facilities. The painters union had announced it was going to stop painting Tesla cars. The construction workers union had announced it would stop work and repairs on Tesla facilities. Since then, Norwegian and Danish labor unions have stopped handling Tesla cargo bound for Sweden and suspended garbage collection at Tesla’s facilities. Since the end of October, more than a dozen unions have launched strikes against Tesla, and the strikes continue.

These workers and their unions don’t have a direct conflict with Tesla: They’ve gone on........

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