Tesla Faces Labor Board Complaint Alleging Interference With Unionization (arstechnica.com)

According to Ars Technica, a federal labor board on Thursday "filed a complaint against Tesla, alleging that the electric vehicle company had discouraged workers from distributing pro-union information, stopped them from talking about employee safety to the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, and in one case, prevented an employee from taking a picture of the Confidentiality Agreement they had to sign." From the report: The Oakland, California-based regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) consolidated the complaints of three former Tesla employees, Michael Sanchez, Jonathan Galescu, and Richard Ortiz, as well as complaints made by UAW. The complaint alleges that on numerous occasions between February 2017 and May 2017, security guards and human resources agents working on behalf of Tesla told employees that they had to leave the Fremont, California, factory premises because they were distributing pro-union leaflets. In addition, one employee says that over the course of two meetings, a Human Resources Business Partner and an Environmental Health Safety and Sustainability Specialist "interrogated the employee about the employee's Union and/or protected, concerted activities," as well as the pro-union activities of other employees. In March, the complaint claims, a supervisor told his employees during a pre-shift meeting that they could not distribute any stickers or pamphlets that hadn't been approved by Tesla first, or they would be fired. In another incident, a Human Resources Business Partner allegedly "attempted to prohibit an employee from discussing safety concerns with other employees and/or with the Union."

Comments

Re: Unions are bad

[Calydor]

No, that is just you having no professional pride.

Forthrightedness

[fluffernutter]

All Tesla has to do is demonstrate to their workers that they already are getting working conditions that meet or exceed that of other unionized shops. Once they do so in an honest and forthright fashion, the union problem goes away because why would anyone want it?

Another mixed bag: consistent thinking

[Uberbah]

I would see the union manager come around in his $1000 suits (a lot at the time). He didn't actually seem to be doing good for the employees, but it looked like he sure was doing good for himself.

Anecdotes and confirmation bias in an anti-union post, how original. But you don't see people questioning the very concept of banking because of Well's Fargo fraudulently signing people up for accounts they didn't ask for.

Re:Unions are bad

[Uberbah]

Kind of like how we could just do away with the FDA, because drug fiascos like Vioxx are a thing of the past. We can all trust our corporate overlords not to put their own greed above the interests of their own workers and customers...

Re:Unions are bad

[Uberbah]

Unions were necessary and were a force for protecting employees' interests.

Unions act as a counterbalance to corporate greed. Has corporate greed disappeared? Have companies stopped killing their workers to save a few pennies on the dollar in profits? Have they stopped demanding their workers make huge pay and benefit cuts to up quarterly dividends - even as the company is enjoying all-time high profits?

Unions now are primarily political action committees.

Uh huh. And how do you propose they counterbalance the (infinitely more funded) political action committees from big business? You expecting them to unilaterally disarm as the latter engages in shenanigans like getting "small government" Republicans to override city-based minimum wage increases with state laws?

Anti-Union Dumbfuckery

[Uberbah]

I've worked at union and non union auto manufacturers, including with Tesla, and unionizing is the worst option for both employer and employees. When you lose any motivation to work hard, the incentive to not be a lazy piece of shit disappears too.

This "unions only protect the lazy" bullshit is dependent on the notion that not only are you going to be happy doing your own work, but your work plus Bob's down the hall whenever he feels like slacking off. No human is built that way - unless you're in an abusive Biff Tannen/George McFly situation, in which case George is going to be doing Bill's work even at an anti-union shop. And it's not like all of you Calvinist shitweasels haven't worked with any number of slackers at union-free companies who got away with all kinds of shenanigans because they were the boss's buddy.

Dumb.

Fuck.

Er.

Eee.

Can Union's still be trusted with power?

[seoras]

If you old enough to remember the 1970's in Britain (I was at primary school) you'll remember the mess the UK was un due to Unions flexing muscle.
It was like a 3rd world country. The worst year was the infamous "winter of discontent".
I was off school either because the teachers were striking, the miners were striking (no coal, no heating, freezing school) or the school janitor was striking.
The rubbish (trash) was piling up on the streets as the refuse collectors were striking.
I would sit at home with my parents in the dark with a gas lamp because the power station had gone out on strike.
I have no love for Thatcher, her politics, policies or legacy. This union driven madness was really what brought her to power and she crushed them without mercy.
It was effectively the end of socialist Britain, the cold war had made communism a dirty world and socialism was getting a bad name thanks to the power drunk unions.
The pendulum has swung a bit too far right since then (NHS dismantlement) and, I personally, blame the unions for it.
They abused their power and we all paid for it.
Reading between the lines on this Tesla spat with unions makes me think it's a grab for power.
We're not hearing any stories of awful working conditions. Oppressed, underpaid workers or anything that would make us think 'they need help, they need a union".
I'd like to think there was protection and worker representation in place but I also don't want to see Tesla hindered in their championing of a clean automotive future due to aa union's (unnecessary) interference.

Re:The UAW is like the mafia

[catchblue22]

It is not surprising that in 2015 with a new production line (the Model X) that injury rates were high. However my understanding is that due to the addition of a third shift amongst other things, that the injury rate has dropped to half industry average. In all honesty, this sounds like a professional media push, even your comment. That's the problem with comment boards...no accountability. We subconsciously treat all comments as if they are expressions of honest opinion, but the reality is that many comments on hot button issues where PR companies are involved, are likely expressions of the interests of one organization or another (in this case, the UAW).

My honest opinion, as a person who believes that electrification of the transport system is the only way to begin to get a handle on reducing our dangerous carbon emissions, is that the UAW quite literally wants to bring Tesla's growth to a grinding halt. My argument for this is that they have an institutional self-interest to do so, in large part because Tesla wants to create an unprecedented fully automated manufacturing line, which will reduce membership in the union. In my experience, institutional self-interest is the best predictor of the actions of organizations.