![[US] Tesla must rehire worker and make Elon Musk delete tweet](http://gpa.net/cdn/shop/articles/bigstock-Washington-Dc-United-States--407780177_1200x.jpg?v=1618314245)
On March 25 the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Tesla Inc had repeatedly violated US labour law - including by firing a union activist - and must make its chief executive officer Elon Musk delete a threatening post from his Twitter account, Auto Economic Times reports.
The ruling, issued by two Republican and one Democratic member of the agency, states that the electric-car maker must offer to reinstate the fired employee. The board members also ruled that Tesla broke the law by retaliating against another union activist, “coercively interrogating” union supporters and restricting employees from talking to reporters.
The company has denied wrongdoing and has argued that Mr Musk’s tweet was protected by the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. Tesla did not respond to an Auto Economic Times request for comment.
Elon Musk’s 2018 tweet read, “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?”
In their March 25 ruling, the board members wrote that the message “unlawfully threatened” Tesla’s employees by stating that they “would lose their stock options if they chose the Union” to represent them.
US labour law allows companies to make negative predictions about the consequences of workers unionising but prohibits threats to punish employees for doing so. Auto Economic Times has further details of the ruling and events leading up to the board’s decision.On March 25 the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Tesla Inc had repeatedly violated US labour law - including by firing a union activist - and must make its chief executive officer Elon Musk delete a threatening post from his Twitter account, Auto Economic Times reports.
The ruling, issued by two Republican and one Democratic member of the agency, states that the electric-car maker must offer to reinstate the fired employee. The board members also ruled that Tesla broke the law by retaliating against another union activist, “coercively interrogating” union supporters and restricting employees from talking to reporters.
The company has denied wrongdoing and has argued that Mr Musk’s tweet was protected by the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. Tesla did not respond to an Auto Economic Times request for comment.
Elon Musk’s 2018 tweet read, “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?”
In their March 25 ruling, the board members wrote that the message “unlawfully threatened” Tesla’s employees by stating that they “would lose their stock options if they chose the Union” to represent them.
US labour law allows companies to make negative predictions about the consequences of workers unionising but prohibits threats to punish employees for doing so. Auto Economic Times has further details of the ruling and events leading up to the board’s decision.