Tesla CEO Elon Musk invited a major autoworkers’ union to host a unionization vote.
The offer, which Musk made on Twitter, would have the United Auto Workers union visit Tesla’s factory in Fresno, California, to hold a unionization vote.
“I’d like hereby to invite UAW to hold a union vote at their convenience. Tesla will do nothing to stop them,” the tech CEO said in a Thursday tweet.
Our real challenge is Bay Area has negative unemployment, so if we don’t treat and compensate our (awesome) people well, they have many other offers and will just leave!
I’d like hereby to invite UAW to hold a union vote at their convenience. Tesla will do nothing to stop them.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2022
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Musk made the statement amid a Twitter conversation with Gene Simmons, arguing that Musk and Tesla deserved some attention due to them being “game changers and should be heralded” in the factory business. Musk responded by noting how Tesla’s Fresno factory was the “largest auto plant in North America” and operating at full capacity.
Another user named James Stephenson added that “it was the people who work at Tesla’s factory who decided they don’t want a union.” Musk added that the real challenge for Tesla’s factory is that Fresno and the Bay Area reportedly have “negative unemployment,” which is why the company has to treat its employees well.
While Musk claims to be friendly with unions, his past says otherwise. An administrative law judge ruled in September 2019 that Musk had violated labor laws by tweeting that unionized Tesla workers would have to give up their stock options, reported CNBC. Other workers have alleged that Tesla has been “anything but neutral” regarding unions.
UAW is one of the largest autoworkers’ unions, with 400,000 members and 580,000 members as of 2022.
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Tesla’s Fresno factory has faced increased scrutiny due to a number of lawsuits filed against the company by former employees. Several women have filed lawsuits against Tesla due to discriminatory conduct by coworkers within the Tesla factory. The company faces a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination within the Fresno factory.
UAW did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.
