Tesla is accused of taking actions to discourage employees in Buffalo, New York, from unionizing, in line with a criticism filed by the National Labor Relations Board.
On Tuesday, the NLRB's Buffalo regional director, Linda Leslie, filed the criticism. In it, she said that Tesla had “promulgated and maintained” an appropriate workplace technology use policy in 2023 that was intended to “discourage its employees from forming, joining, supporting, or engaging in other concerted activities with the union.” after allegations were made by members of Workers United.
CNBC obtained a duplicate of the criticism through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The policy restricted Tesla employees from “engaging in unauthorized advertising.” [sic] The criticism stated, amongst other things:
The NLRB also alleges that the policy had the effect of “impairing, restricting, and coercing workers in the exercise of guaranteed rights” under the National Labor Relations Act, which generally protects staff' right to prepare to speak, join a union and negotiate together for higher pay and dealing conditions.
The Tesla factory in Buffalo was originally intended to make solar panels, but more recently it has also been used to assemble electric vehicle chargers and house a team of AI software data labelers.
There were several job cuts on the Buffalo plant last month as a part of a broader restructuring at the electrical vehicle maker. According to a WARN notice filed In New York state, Tesla is shedding 285 employees, mostly on the Buffalo factory. The company is cutting hundreds of jobs worldwide after reporting a decline in electric vehicle sales in the primary quarter.
Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have been at loggerheads with union advocates for years and have been found to have engaged in union-fighting. In 2021, the NLRB ruled that Tesla violated labor laws when it fired a union activist and when Musk wrote on Twitter in 2018: “Nothing is stopping the Tesla team at our auto plant from voting to unionize. Could do it if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing?”
An administrative court ordered the removal of the chairman of the board. Tesla challenged the order, but its request for review was denied. The post in query stays on Musk's X account, where he has 182.7 million listed followers.
Tesla has also faced labor rights challenges in Europe. Last yr, Swedish service technicians began a strike that continues to at the present time, with the labor group temporarily allowing authorized work. Workers in Sweden, where nearly all of corporations are involved in unions, are in search of a collective agreement with Tesla.
Tesla didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Read the criticism Here:
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