The plastic they used appears to shrink over time, and grip the shaft very tightly. On a buddy's TR6, I got them all off with little or no damage; by using some thin strips of wood as padding against the dash, then prying on both sides of the knob (at the same time) with a pair of small pry bars. I felt it was important to get a straight pull, to avoid bending the shaft (and possibly snapping it). Still took a lot of force, I asked him if it was OK to break the switch, but they all came off without breaking anything.
Afterwards, I used an X-acto knife to enlarge the hole just a bit, so it slid easily on the shaft.