Complaint Claims Tesla Fired Dozens Of Employees In Light Of New Union Campaign

Organizers of a labor campaign at Tesla's Buffalo, New York, plant have filed a complaint with the state and claim that Tesla Inc. terminated dozens of employees at the plant on Wednesday, just one day after Autopilot workers there announced their unionization campaign.

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Employees United filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board accusing Tesla of terminating employees illegally "as a result of union activity and as a way of discouraging union activity”. In a petition to the labor board, the union requested an injunction “to prevent irreparable destruction of employee rights resulting from Tesla’s unlawful conduct.” 

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Several of the terminated employees, as well as at least one member of the organization committee, had been involved in labor discussions, according to the union, which means that they had participated in labor discussions.

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Jaz Brisack, a Workers United organizer spearheading Tesla's union drive, says this is collective retaliation against the workers who started this organizing effort. "The terminations are intended to terrify everyone about the potential consequences of organizing, as well as to cull the herd," she said. 

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A number of Tesla officials, including the company's chief executive officer, Elon Musk, and its chief human resources officer, did not respond to inquiries. In the year 2020, Tesla disbanded its press relations team. 

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Tesla's Autopilot employees, who label data, sent Musk an email early Tuesday expressing their intention to unionize.

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According to the union's filing, Arian Berek was among the organizers who were terminated Wednesday as a result of his dismissal. Berek said in a statement provided to the union that he felt blindsided by the union's actions. “I got COVID and was not at work for a couple of days, then I had to go on bereavement leave for two weeks. As soon as I returned to work, I was told that I was exceeding expectations, and then Wednesday came along." 

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More than 800 Autopilot analysts work at Tesla’s Buffalo factory, which is a non-engineering position that contributes to Tesla’s automated-driving development, identifying objects in images its vehicles capture and helping its systems recognize them on the road, according to a union report. 

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Trade Algo reported in June that the company fired hundreds of workers who performed these jobs in California.

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Employees have said that they want more than just job security and a salary increase. They also want a voice in workplace decision-making and they want to reduce monitoring, metrics, and production pressure, which they claim are detrimental to their health. It has been reported that Tesla monitors their keystrokes and tracks how long they spend on each task as well as how long they spend actively working throughout the day. As a result, several employees previously told Trade Algo that they avoided taking bathroom breaks due to this situation. 

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Tesla announced new sections of its policy on workplace technology usage on Wednesday, just one day after Trade Algo cited several Tesla employees discussing their workplace concerns. Trade Algo saw a copy of the changes that stipulated "Protect the confidentiality, integrity, and security of all Tesla Business Information."

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As a result of a landmark victory at a Buffalo cafe six miles from the Tesla factory, Workers United successfully organized hundreds of Starbucks Corp. stores last year.

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In addition to organizing the factory's roughly 1,000 employees, the union is also seeking to organize its suppliers. Both groups of Tesla employees received leaflets on Tuesday with links to a website where they could sign union cards. 

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Sara Costantino, an Autopilot worker on the organizing committee, said the terminations on Wednesday are galvanizing more workers to support the union. "It's pretty clear what they're trying to convey. They want to scare us." Costantino said. “And it’s really I think backfiring on them.”

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“This really opened people's eyes to why we need a union,” she said.

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Retaliation against workers who organize unions or take collective action about workplace conditions is illegal under federal law. Investigations are conducted by regional offices of the NLRB in response to complaints filed with it. If the labor board finds merit in the allegations, it prosecutes the case before an agency judge, whose decision can be appealed to Washington board members, and then to the federal appeals court. In addition to ordering reinstatement with back pay, the agency can order companies to pay punitive damages. 

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Tesla was found to have repeatedly violated federal law in Fremont by a bipartisan group of US labor board members in 2021, including by "coercively interrogating" union supporters and firing one for his activism, according to the decision. This ruling has been appealed by Tesla, which has denied that there was any wrongdoing on its part.

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