A California labor union is taking aim at Tesla by pushing lawmakers there to cut-off tax breaks to the company “in an effort to punish Tesla Motors for resisting a unionization campaign”:
Labor unions are pressuring California lawmakers to curb tax breaks on electric vehicles in an effort to punish Tesla Motors for resisting a unionization campaign.
The California Labor Federation, an AFL-CIO affiliate and one of the state’s most influential labor organizations, asked top Democrats to include budgetary language that would restrict tax breaks based on a company’s labor practices in a letter obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon.
In April 2017, employees at Tesla’s Fremont, CA plant filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing Tesla of “illegal surveillance, coercion, intimidation, and prevention of worker communications”:
Workers at Tesla’s Fremont, California, electric car factory have filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing the company of illegal surveillance, coercion, intimidation, and prevention of worker communications. The employees, who have been attempting to organize the approximately 7,000 workers at the plant through the United Auto Workers, claim that Tesla violated multiple sections of the National Labor Relations Act, which protects the right to unionize.
In February 2017, a worker at a Tesla plant wrote about the company’s record on preventable workplace injuries:
Preventable injuries happen often. In addition to long working hours, machinery is often not ergonomically compatible with our bodies. There is too much twisting and turning and extra physical movement to do jobs that could be simplified if workers’ input were welcomed. Add a shortage of manpower and a constant push to work faster to meet production goals, and injuries are bound to happen.
Tesla has received billions in taxpayer subsidies. Will California labor unions be the ones to cut-off the spigot of taxpayer money? Stay tuned to Core News for updates.
