Tesla has been facing a new unionization effort at its Gigafactory New York this week, and the company has responded by firing dozens of employees. According to a complaint filed by Workers United with the US National Labor Relations Board, the terminations were done in retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity.
The effort to unionize began with data labelers who want better pay, job security, and less tracking at work. It is supported by Workers United, which is known for having unionized workers at hundreds of Starbucks stores. The union organizers plan to add the ~1,000 manufacturing workers at Gigafactory New York in Buffalo to the unionization effort.
Jaz Brisack, a Workers United organizer working on the Tesla union drive at Giga New York, commented on the terminations: “This is a form of collective retaliation against the group of workers that started this organizing effort. The terminations are designed to terrify everyone about potential consequences of them organizing, as well as to attempt to cull the herd.”
Arian Berek, a Tesla employee who was one of the organizers and was among those terminated Wednesday, commented: “I feel blindsided. I got COVID and was out of the office, then I had to take a bereavement leave. I returned to work, was told I was exceeding expectations and then Wednesday came along.”
Sara Costantino, a Tesla worker on the Autopilot team at Giga New York and a member of the union organizing committee, commented: “It’s pretty clear the message they’re sending. They’re trying to scare us. And it’s really I think backfiring on them. It has really opened people’s eyes to the fact that this is why we need a union.”
This is not the first time that Tesla has been in trouble with the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In 2021, NLRB ruled that Tesla violated labor laws by firing an employee over what they claimed was union support and because of a tweet in which Elon Musk stated that unionized employees would lose their stock options as part of their compensation package. The NLRB also found that Tesla had unlawfully interfered with employees’ rights to engage in protected concerted activities.
The recent firings at Gigafactory New York have sparked outrage among workers and labor activists alike. It remains to be seen how this situation will play out, but it is clear that Tesla is facing a major challenge in its efforts to prevent unionization at its facilities.
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