Elon Musk Violated Labor Laws With 2018 Tweet, Tesla Ordered To Reinstate Union Activist

[TruckElectric]

The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) violated labor laws when it fired a union activist in 2017. The federal agency also ordered CEO Elon Musk to remove an “unlawful tweet” in 2018 that threatened Tesla workers hoping to unionize.

What Happened: The NLRB directed Tesla to rehire the union activist, Richard Ortiz, and compensate him for loss of earnings, other benefits and adverse tax consequences following his firing. Ortiz was part of an organizing campaign, “Fair Future at Tesla.”

The NLRB said Tesla broke the law by “coercively interrogating” workers who attempted to unionize and for preventing them from speaking to the media without explicit written permission from the company.


Tesla has been ordered to revise a confidentially agreement it provides to employees and inform them of their protected rights by posting notices nationwide and holding meetings at its Fremont, California factory.

Further, Musk has been asked to remove his 2018 tweet that “unlawfully threatened” workers. The CEO’s tweet was in response to increased efforts by workers to form a union with the United Auto Workers at the Fremont factory.

“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,” Musk had said in the tweet.

Why It Matters: Tesla has said its factories should remain union-free and opposed efforts by workers to unionize. Musk has repeatedly clashed with workers at the Fremont factory for their pro-union stance and over working conditions at the factory.

Musk being ordered to delete his tweet is also significant, as Tesla counts tweets by its CEO to be official communication from the company.


SOURCE: Yahoo Finance

 

[Crissa]

This ruling is ridiculous. So was the tweet. And removing it does nothing.

*sigh*

-Crissa

 

[Albern]

This ruling is ridiculous. So was the tweet. And removing it does nothing.

*sigh*

-Crissa

Can't say I know much about unions or the supposed value they bring to their constituents, but I've always been leery of them. What is it about Elon's tweet that you found ridiculous? Seems to be mostly based on facts - form a union = new bargaining agreement with nothing on the table to start.

Timing is rather odd too unless NLRB moves very slowly.

 

[Crissa]

It wasn't a threat, unions usually dislike stock as compensation because it dilutes traditional union power. And removing the tweet doesn't make it less a threat, if you read it that way. It would have still happened.

I don't know the conditions of the firing, but so far organizing efforts have been weird. We overly complicate the whole union thing.

Unions should just exist by default instead of all this rigamarole. The employees could choose how strong or weak their union was.

-Crissa

 

[TruckElectric]

Timing is rather odd too unless NLRB moves very slowly.

They(NLRB) move very slowly.

 

[Crissa]

Also, he NLRB was sitting without enough confirmed members, as Republicans in the Senate blocked any appointees under Obama. Like the Supreme Court, they held everything up for several years until Trump was elected.

-Crissa

 

[TruckElectric]

Also, he NLRB was sitting without enough confirmed members, as Republicans in the Senate blocked any appointees under Obama. Like the Supreme Court, they held everything up for several years until Trump was elected.

I thought politics was verboten.

 

[Crissa]

I thought politics was verboten.

I'm just recounting historical events. It explains some of the delay, they did not have a quorum and had to refrain from making rulings.

It was explicitly Senate Leader Mitch McConnell's plan, he spoke about it in the press.

-Crissa

 

[SparkChaser]

Can't say I know much about unions or the supposed value they bring to their constituents, but I've always been leery of them. What is it about Elon's tweet that you found ridiculous? Seems to be mostly based on facts - form a union = new bargaining agreement with nothing on the table to start.

Timing is rather odd too unless NLRB moves very slowly.

The labor laws and especially the NLRB is very slow to respond to labor calls for action or redress. It is intentional. Keeping labor at s disadvantage has been the game since unions are born. After WWII there was for a time a growth and strengthening of unions and labor in general. Ever since then companies snd government have been working against them.
I have been in many unions and even organized to change unions. I have Been an active member, steward, representative and officer in my unions.
it takes slot of workand there is very little thanks but it is the way forward for labor.
today Amazon in Alabama
Tomorrow Tesla in Texas.

 

[TruckElectric]

The labor laws and especially the NLRB is very slow to respond to labor calls for action or redress. It is intentional. Keeping labor at s disadvantage has been the game since unions are born. After WWII there was for a time a growth and strengthening of unions and labor in general. Ever since then companies snd government have been working against them.
I have been in many unions and even organized to change unions. I have Been an active member, steward, representative and officer in my unions.
it takes slot of workand there is very little thanks but it is the way forward for labor.
today Amazon in Alabama
Tomorrow Tesla in Texas.

You would think Richard Trumka would be in the thick of it in Alabama but I couldn't find any reference to him in a search of the news. The RWDSU is a member of the AFL-CIO.
Bernie Sanders is all over it though .........

 

[TruckElectric]

Tomorrow Tesla in Texas.

This would be a dilemma for Tesla employees who might be thinking about unionizing.

The employees that own TSLA would see their shares plummet as soon as they announce Tesla is going union(UAW) at Tesla Giga Austin.

 

[Frankenblob]

The pendulum needs to find a middle ground.

Back in the day ( no I am not belittling or making nothing of horrendous conditions that still exist, just trying to make a point) workers were like ants and "management walked all over them". Then as time went on the pendulum began swinging from that extreme side to " workers rights" - despite the severity of some workers actions those workers through Unions - held management hostage and at bay ( this is the other side of the pendulum swing).

So I can see the distrust/animosity between these factions. They just need to come to a middle ground and work together.

Particularly wages because a look at some CEOs/CFOs... who receive multi-millions YET drive a company into the ground then get hired again at another Corp., do the same thing and do it all over again and... but all they do is leave a trail of shattered lives and bankrupt business's.

Middle ground PLEASE!

 

[Crissa]

This would be a dilemma for Tesla employees who might be thinking about unionizing.

The employees that own TSLA would see their shares plummet as soon as they announce Tesla is going union(UAW) at Tesla Giga Austin.

In the long run, tho, their shares would be strong with their product strength.

Like Frankenblob said, we need more of this middle ground: To have companies able to have better ratios between ceo and employee (which is like Costco or Tesla).

-Crissa

 

[Luke42]

The pendulum needs to find a middle ground.

Back in the day ( no I am not belittling or making nothing of horrendous conditions that still exist, just trying to make a point) workers were like ants and "management walked all over them". Then as time went on the pendulum began swinging from that extreme side to " workers rights" - despite the severity of some workers actions those workers through Unions - held management hostage and at bay ( this is the other side of the pendulum swing).

So I can see the distrust/animosity between these factions. They just need to come to a middle ground and work together.

Particularly wages because a look at some CEOs/CFOs... who receive multi-millions YET drive a company into the ground then get hired again at another Corp., do the same thing and do it all over again and... but all they do is leave a trail of shattered lives and bankrupt business's.

Middle ground PLEASE!

The German model for unionization may be that middle ground:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_council

It works so well that Volkswagen has proposed it in their American plants:
VW Plant Opens Door to Union and Dispute
(You have to read until the middle of article to see the point I'm referring to.)

However, it's hard to tell if the German-style Works Council works because of the ruleset, or because of German culture.

But we should try it, because it can't be worse than what we're doing now!

 

[TruckElectric]

However, it's hard to tell if the German-style Works Council works because of the ruleset, or because of German culture.

But we should try it, because it can't be worse than what we're doing now!

This isn't Europe or Germany. Not gonna happen.