Marie Nilsson, ordförande för IF Metall, besökte Northvolt efter bolagets konkurs. Hon beskriver en stor oro på fabriken bland fackets medlemmar.
When Norran met Marie Nilsson in the biting wind outside Northvolt, she had concluded a busy day of meetings both at the factory site and in central Skellefteå. Thousands of people from various parts of the world could lose their jobs following Northvolt’s bankruptcy. The IF Metall trade union has approximately 2,000 members affected by the crisis.
– I have met with our union representatives as well as many of our members. Of course, there is great concern and uncertainty about what will happen next. Will a new owner take over production, or will workers lose their jobs? Many who are here on work permits worry they will be forced to leave Skellefteå if they don’t find a new job.
– This is a unique situation. Those with citizenship have a safety net with unemployment benefits and similar support systems. But for those on work permits, it is different, which creates a lot of anxiety, says Nilsson.
Marie Nilsson also met with Skellefteå’s Social Democratic mayor and deputy mayor, Lorents Burman and Evelina Fahlesson, during the day. They have previously stated that the government must take significant responsibility for ensuring a new ownership structure takes over the battery factory.
– They want support and signals from the government that it believes in battery manufacturing in Sweden and Skellefteå. This is a flagship facility, and it would be very unfortunate if it could not continue operations. This factory needs a restart, but I think it has good potential to produce batteries, as production has already ramped up and is delivering more batteries than before.
"Det här är en flaggskeppsanläggning som det vore väldigt, väldigt tråkigt om den inte kunde drivas vidare", säger Marie Nilsson, ordförande för IF Metall.
"Regeringen behöver vara en dörröppnare", säger Marie Nilsson, ordförande för IF Metall.
What specific actions should the government take?
– The government needs to act as a door opener and show that it believes Sweden can manufacture these kinds of products and that it welcomes investors instead of closing doors. Additionally, it should review the regulations for work permits to ensure a smoother transition if a new operator wants to take over, says Nilsson.