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posted by martyb on Friday February 10 2017, @02:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the pressing-for-change dept.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has accused one of his employees of being a union agitator working on behalf of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW):

Earlier today, a Tesla employee wrote a post on Medium alleging that he and fellow Tesla employees at the company's Fremont, California manufacturing facility endure "excessive mandatory overtime," lower-than-average pay, and frequent injuries. Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to the claims in a series of private Twitter messages to Gizmodo by calling the employee, who wrote under the name Jose Moran, a pro-union agitator working on behalf of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW).

"Our understanding is that this guy was paid by the UAW to join Tesla and agitate for a union," Musk says. The Tesla chief goes on to call Moran an employee of UAW, working on behalf of the union and not Tesla. When asked about his stance on unions, Musk describes Tesla as a "union neutral" company.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Tesla has paused production at its California assembly plant to prepare for the production of the company's long-awaited Model 3 sedan.


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  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Friday February 10 2017, @02:59PM

    by RamiK (1813) on Friday February 10 2017, @02:59PM (#465488)

    Or maybe he'll just move production to a country where employees aren't so picky about missing the odd arm or leg.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by butthurt on Friday February 10 2017, @04:08PM

    by butthurt (6141) on Friday February 10 2017, @04:08PM (#465506) Journal

    Yes, I'm sure Tesla would be welcome in Tennessee. General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, Nissan and Volkswagen are already there.

    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 10 2017, @05:19PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 10 2017, @05:19PM (#465536)

      Volkswagen actually wants a union in their plant in TN.

      They are big on "workers councils" which are an implementation of Deming's [wikipedia.org] continuous quality improvement management philosophy that is largely responsible for Japan's ascent from bottom-of-the-barrel to top automaker in the world. But a workers council without a full-fledged union can easily be turned into a tool for employee repression, so they are illegal in the US.

      The TN governor, Haslam, is such a died-in-the-wool republican that he's been fighting VW on their attempt to unionize their own plant. [msnbc.com] So far, Haslam has won. With the help of a bizarre anti-union union. [washingtonpost.com]

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 10 2017, @11:35PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 10 2017, @11:35PM (#465627)

        Rethuglicans. So heinous they won't even let companies who want their workers to unionize, do so. Idiots keep happily voting these sociopaths into office, though. Grade A, top shelf fucking maroons.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 11 2017, @01:18AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 11 2017, @01:18AM (#465649)

          ...and some, I assume, are good people.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 11 2017, @09:47PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 11 2017, @09:47PM (#465904)

            I hope they find a worthy replacement soon for the TN governor. I mean, other republicans are dyed-in-the-wool, but this guy actually wore his far-right garments too tightly and expired. I don't know if that means briefs, breeches, boxers, or turbans, but he still died in his wool, so I guess the message is right wing ideology=death!

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Thexalon on Saturday February 11 2017, @12:19AM

        by Thexalon (636) on Saturday February 11 2017, @12:19AM (#465638)

        With the help of a bizarre anti-union union.

        It's not that bizarre: One of the classic anti-unionization tactics is to create a "company union", which looks like a union but was created by the company, and management has certain controls over, as a way of keeping the workers from thinking about getting a real union.

        As for the VW unionization campaign, the governor in question is very clear about why he's opposing the effort even if VW isn't: If VW unionizes, workers in other auto plants might start getting ideas.

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        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 11 2017, @05:04AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 11 2017, @05:04AM (#465689)

          It's not that bizarre: One of the classic anti-unionization tactics is to create a "company union", which looks like a union but was created by the company, and management has certain controls over, as a way of keeping the workers from thinking about getting a real union.

          Except that doesn't fit the mold here. The anti-union was constantly complaining about VW freezing them out and favoring the UAW.