Tesla and its billionaire owner, Elon Musk, have earned a reputation for union-busting efforts over the past few years. Complaints from workers over being fired for engaging in efforts to unionize at Tesla have become common.
In February 2017, Musk accused a factory worker who outlined several issues within Tesla in a Medium blogpost of being a “union plant”.
In an email, Musk also promised workers free frozen yogurt in a letter to employees that framed unionization efforts as an effort against Tesla by big car companies.
The same month, Tesla employee Michael Sanchez alleged he was asked to leave the Tesla factory by security for handing out pro-union flyers outside to fellow employees.
The NLRB filed a complaint currently on trial over Musk’s alleged promise to workers in a June 2017 meeting to fix safety standard concerns if they refrained from efforts to form a union.
Several similar charges against Tesla are currently under consideration by the NLRB, including one alleging surveillance and intimidation against workers attempting to form a union.
In August 2017 Crystal Guardado was fired from Tesla as she began participating in union organizing and speaking up about the unsafe working conditions. “Some of my most vivid memories are asking questions about the union to colleagues and being told to shut up or I’d get fired,” Guardado said.
“I was a union supporter. I wore a union shirt almost every day to work and my supervisor at the time asked me why I wore it,” said Jim Owen, who left the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, in March 2018 due to concerns for his safety after a robot almost severely injured him while working on car hoods. “He told me upper management wouldn’t appreciate me wearing it.”
Mark Vasquez, worked at Tesla from 2014 until he was placed on a medical leave of absence in July 2016 after spending several months on light duty after he permanently injured his back on the job. “Talking to other workers about unionizing was really frowned upon,” he told me. “When some of my supervisors heard me talking to other employees about it, they would come over and shut down the conversation.”
One current Tesla employee, who asked to remain anonymous, was placed on medical leave after sustaining a work injury in July 2016. “They are refusing to allow me to return to work,” the worker said. “For a brief period of time, when the movement was gaining traction, pro-union employees were given promotions to lessen their demands. It did not work, so they moved to removing pro-union employees. I am one of them that they do not want back, but I absolutely will be fighting for a union even harder if I am allowed to return to work.”
Dezzimond Vaughn was a well-regarded worker at the Tesla factory in Lathrop, California. Then he became involved in trying to organize a union and suddenly his job was on the line. “They started changing rules without any remorse,” Vaughn, a 31-year-old former Tesla computer-numeric-controlled (CNC) heavy machinery operator, told the Guardian. Vaughn claims management began to try to push him out of employment once they found out he was helping to lead unionization efforts.
Another current employee in a Tesla factory who asked to remain anonymous expressed similar sentiments. “Pro-union people are generally fired for made-up reasons. There’s a culture of fear because if you don’t comply, you will be fired,” the employee told me. “We are told Tesla would go bankrupt if we unionize because we are not a profitable company yet.” He added that management quickly finds reasons to fire employees who tout their efforts to form a union and those who are fired are pushed to sign non-disclosure agreements before receiving their last paycheck.
Interviews with current Tesla employees suggest these alleged union busting and intimidation tactics are still being implemented by middle and upper management at Tesla factories.
“Elon Musk says he’s neutral toward the union,” another employee added. However, “They’ve been anything but neutral. Anything union or pro-union is shut down really fast.”
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