Tesla (TSLA) fires dozens in NY following union effort

According to a new complaint with the US National Labor Relations Board, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has fired dozens of employees at Gigafactory New York just one day after a new unionization effort was launched.

According to a Bloomberg report, the union in a filing with the US National Labor Relations Board, has accused Tesla of illegally terminating the employees “in retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity.” The union has reportedly asked the labor board to seek a federal court injunction “to prevent irreparable destruction of employee rights.”

Employees at the electric vehicle company’s facility in upstate New York announced the campaign to unionize on Tuesday with a public letter to the company.

The release posted on Twitter by the union on February 14 said, “We want Tesla to be the company we know it can be.” “Our union will further Tesla’s principles and objectives, including by helping to serve as the conscience of the organization and by ensuring and deepening our culture of trust and respect,” it added.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken a hard line against unionization in the past. In 2021 Musk was ordered by the National Labor Relations Board to delete a 2018 tweet in which it said that he unlawfully threatened employees with loss of stock options if they chose to be represented by the UAW.

The tweet had said: "“Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.” In August 2022 the National Labor Relations Board reversed a Trump-era decision by finding that Tesla can't stop factory employees from wearing clothing with union insignia while on the job.

Shares of TSLA are up 0.42% in pre-market trading on Thursday.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]

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