Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently discussed the idea of unionization among Tesla’s factory workers.
In a series of tweets this past weekend, Musk explained that Tesla workers are free to form a union anytime. Musk added that he has no power to stop employees from forming a union, considering that California is a pro-union state. Musk, however, clarified that so far, Tesla’s employees “just don’t want to,” considering that the company already offers healthcare and stock options.
Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 21, 2018
Musk also clarified allegations which suggested that Tesla let go of employees who were attempting to unionize. According to Musk, only one known union supporter was terminated by the company, and it was due to the former worker’s behavior towards other employees.
About 2% of Tesla, incl salaried & hourly, union & non-union were let go in annual review. Only known union person fired was a guy who repeatedly threatened non-union supporters verbally & on social media & lied about it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 21, 2018
Just recently, it was revealed that the United Auto Workers (UAW) has been engaging in a corporate campaign against the electric car maker. In a recent filing with the Labor Department, the UAW revealed that it spent $422,000 in 2017 on items and services related to its Tesla campaign. Among these are video productions, ads, campaign flyers, and t-shirts. The UAW filing further revealed that it spent more than $130,000 on hotel accommodations near Tesla’s Fremont, CA plant alone, on top of a $52,200 rent for “additional space” in Fremont.
In a statement to Fox Business, Vinnie Vernuccio, a senior fellow at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, stated that the UAW’s efforts against the Elon Musk-led company is evident in the investment that it has placed in its Tesla campaign so far.
“The UAW is clearly doing what’s known as a corporate campaign against Tesla. You see that by the organizing drives out West, but you also see that by their attempts to harm Tesla’s business model out East,” he said.
The UAW has increased its efforts against Tesla since the electric car maker started working towards the mass-production of its Model 3 compact sedan. Back in 2016, UAW president Dennis Williams stated that the organization has widely considered Tesla as a startup company. Once the electric car and energy company announced its plans of producing 500,000 vehicles per year, however, Williams noted that Tesla’s size would put it just behind Volkswagen and ahead of BMW and Mercedes-Benz. With such a production output, according to the UAW, it would be in the best interest of the the company’s workers to have a union.
Tesla and the UAW have not seen eye-to-eye so far. Just last year, Tesla was accused of firing employees that supported unionization. A couple of pro-union Tesla workers at the Fremont factory also alleged unsafe work practices right before the Model 3 production ramp. Earlier this year, a report on Tesla’s alleged misreporting of workplace injuries by Reveal magazine also prompted a fiery response from the electric car company.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, union membership has so far been on a decline over the past few decades, especially in the private sector. Back in 1983, union membership was at 20.1%, a stark difference from the 10.7% overall membership in 2017.
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It will be very interesting to see what happens in the US when the Chinese are ready to sell their electric cars there. It won't be long, they are already out-producing Tesla by a large margin and will be selling at lower prices than Tesla. Will an ugly left/right combination of the UAW and Trump combine to ban or tax them out of the market? At least one Chinese venture seems to be set to produce cars in California, Bay Area also as I understand, and Tesla will soon be producing in China too, so who do you attack without also attacking the economy of America's most dynamic region? That will be a tough one for the left/right (red/orange?) tendency to work out.
Forget any thought of an affordable electric car. Elon Musk can also forget about running his company as he sees fit. Everything including potty time will have to be cleared with the union. Product development will be severely impeded. What will Musk say when they demand things like 'pet' healthcare which is no joke, it has come up before and would definitely fly in Cali. The workers well being is the last concern of the UAW. The primary concern of the UAW is money to fund it's top level people and to pass on to the Democrat Party to buy votes, as it has been for decades. Unionizing Tesla will spell it's demise.
"Democrat Party" <- LOL. OK.
Let's not conflate the cancer that is the UAW with organized labor all-up. Because unions don't seem to stop BMW, VAG, Daimler and others from doing their thing. And we'll see how well Tesla can compete when we see BMW and Daimler build precision in the EV space at the Tesla price point.
If Tesla pays folks well, with good benefits then they won't need a union and they won't call for one. But it is their right to do so.
Let's not conflate the cancer that is the UAW with organized labor all-up. Because unions don't seem to stop BMW, VAG, Daimler and others from doing their thing. And we'll see how well Tesla can compete when we see BMW and Daimler build precision in the EV space at the Tesla price point.
Apples and oranges. US unions tend to work against and to the detriment of the host company. Whereas German unions work with the company to make sure workers concerns are addressed with the goal of the workers being better off and thus more productive and the company more competitive.
