[US] Tesla terminates dozens of employees after union campaign announced

Tesla terminated dozens of employees at its plant in Buffalo, New York, on February 15. According to a complaint from organisers, the firings occurred just one day after Autopilot workers at the facility announced a union campaign, Bloomberg reports.

The union Workers United accused Tesla of illegally terminating the employees “in retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity” in a filing with the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). 

The union reportedly asked the labour board to seek a federal court injunction “to prevent irreparable destruction of employee rights resulting from Tesla’s unlawful conduct.”

Several of the terminated employees had been involved in labour discussions, the union said, including at least one who was a member of the organising committee.

“This is a form of collective retaliation against the group of workers that started this organizing effort,” Jaz Brisack - a Workers United organiser who is helping lead the Tesla union drive - said. The terminations are “designed to terrify everyone about potential consequences of them organizing, as well as to attempt to cull the herd,” Ms Brisack said.

In a February 16 blog post, Tesla denied that its actions were in response to the union campaign and said the terminations were decided earlier in the month as part of a routine performance-review process. 

The company said 675 employees label data for Tesla’s Autopilot system in Buffalo and that the 4 per cent it fired had “received prior feedback on their poor performance from their managers.”

An organizing committee of 25 employees reportedly sent an email to CEO Elon Musk early on February 14 expressing their intention to unionise.

Arian Berek - one of the organisers - was among the terminated workers, according to the union’s filing.

“I feel blindsided,” Ms Berek said in a statement provided by the union. “I got COVID and was out of the office, then I had to take a bereavement leave. I returned to work, was told I was exceeding expectations and then Wednesday came along.” 

According to the union, the positions of Autopilot analyst are non-engineering roles that contribute to Tesla’s automated-driving development, including by identifying objects in images its vehicles capture and helping its systems recognise them on the road. 

In June 2022, Bloomberg reported the company’s dismissal of hundreds of workers performing these jobs in California.

As well as job security and increased pay, employees have reportedly said they are looking for a say in workplace decision making and want to curb the monitoring, metrics and production pressure that they claim are harmful to their health. 

These workers say Tesla monitors their keystrokes and tracks how long they spend per task and how much of the day they spend actively working. This leads some to avoid taking toilet breaks, according to prior Bloomberg News reporting.

In its February 16 blog post, Tesla said that it used time monitoring for image labelling “to improve the ease of use of our labelling software,” and claimed, “there is nothing to be gained by delaying bathroom breaks.”

On February 15 - a day after Bloomberg News quoted several Tesla employees revealing their workplace concerns - the company also sent staff a message announcing new sections of its policy on workplace technology usage. The changes reportedly included a directive to “Protect the confidentiality, integrity and security of all Tesla Business Information,” according to a copy seen by Bloomberg News.

Workers United successfully organised hundreds of Starbucks Corp. stores in 2022, after securing a landmark win at a Buffalo cafe which is six miles from the Tesla plant.

The union has said it also intends to organise the roughly 1,000 manufacturing employees at the facility. On February 14, Tesla workers circulated leaflets at the plant to both groups of employees, with links to a website where they could sign union cards.

Sara Costantino - an Autopilot worker and member of the organising committee - said the terminations are galvanising more workers to support the union effort. “It’s pretty clear the message they’re sending. They’re trying to scare us,” Ms Costantino said. “And it’s really I think backfiring on them.” 

“It has really opened people’s eyes to the fact that this is why we need a union,” she said.

Federal law reportedly prohibits retaliating against workers for taking collective action about workplace conditions, including by organising unions. Complaints filed with the NLRB are investigated by regional offices. If labour board officials find merit in the allegations and the company doesn’t settle, they prosecute the claims before an agency judge, whose ruling can be appealed to board members in Washington, and from there to a federal appeals court. 

The agency has the authority to order fired workers reinstated with back pay but not to make companies pay punitive damages.

In 2021, a bipartisan group of US labour board members ruled that Tesla had repeatedly violated federal law in Fremont, including by “coercively interrogating” union supporters and firing one as a result of his activism. 

Tesla has denied wrongdoing and is reportedly appealing that ruling.

Source: Bloomberg

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

Tesla terminated dozens of employees at its plant in Buffalo, New York, on February 15. According to a complaint from organisers, the firings occurred just one day after Autopilot workers at the facility announced a union campaign, Bloomberg reports.

The union Workers United accused Tesla of illegally terminating the employees “in retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity” in a filing with the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). 

The union reportedly asked the labour board to seek a federal court injunction “to prevent irreparable destruction of employee rights resulting from Tesla’s unlawful conduct.”

Several of the terminated employees had been involved in labour discussions, the union said, including at least one who was a member of the organising committee.

“This is a form of collective retaliation against the group of workers that started this organizing effort,” Jaz Brisack - a Workers United organiser who is helping lead the Tesla union drive - said. The terminations are “designed to terrify everyone about potential consequences of them organizing, as well as to attempt to cull the herd,” Ms Brisack said.

In a February 16 blog post, Tesla denied that its actions were in response to the union campaign and said the terminations were decided earlier in the month as part of a routine performance-review process. 

The company said 675 employees label data for Tesla’s Autopilot system in Buffalo and that the 4 per cent it fired had “received prior feedback on their poor performance from their managers.”

An organizing committee of 25 employees reportedly sent an email to CEO Elon Musk early on February 14 expressing their intention to unionise.

Arian Berek - one of the organisers - was among the terminated workers, according to the union’s filing.

“I feel blindsided,” Ms Berek said in a statement provided by the union. “I got COVID and was out of the office, then I had to take a bereavement leave. I returned to work, was told I was exceeding expectations and then Wednesday came along.” 

According to the union, the positions of Autopilot analyst are non-engineering roles that contribute to Tesla’s automated-driving development, including by identifying objects in images its vehicles capture and helping its systems recognise them on the road. 

In June 2022, Bloomberg reported the company’s dismissal of hundreds of workers performing these jobs in California.

As well as job security and increased pay, employees have reportedly said they are looking for a say in workplace decision making and want to curb the monitoring, metrics and production pressure that they claim are harmful to their health. 

These workers say Tesla monitors their keystrokes and tracks how long they spend per task and how much of the day they spend actively working. This leads some to avoid taking toilet breaks, according to prior Bloomberg News reporting.

In its February 16 blog post, Tesla said that it used time monitoring for image labelling “to improve the ease of use of our labelling software,” and claimed, “there is nothing to be gained by delaying bathroom breaks.”

On February 15 - a day after Bloomberg News quoted several Tesla employees revealing their workplace concerns - the company also sent staff a message announcing new sections of its policy on workplace technology usage. The changes reportedly included a directive to “Protect the confidentiality, integrity and security of all Tesla Business Information,” according to a copy seen by Bloomberg News.

Workers United successfully organised hundreds of Starbucks Corp. stores in 2022, after securing a landmark win at a Buffalo cafe which is six miles from the Tesla plant.

The union has said it also intends to organise the roughly 1,000 manufacturing employees at the facility. On February 14, Tesla workers circulated leaflets at the plant to both groups of employees, with links to a website where they could sign union cards.

Sara Costantino - an Autopilot worker and member of the organising committee - said the terminations are galvanising more workers to support the union effort. “It’s pretty clear the message they’re sending. They’re trying to scare us,” Ms Costantino said. “And it’s really I think backfiring on them.” 

“It has really opened people’s eyes to the fact that this is why we need a union,” she said.

Federal law reportedly prohibits retaliating against workers for taking collective action about workplace conditions, including by organising unions. Complaints filed with the NLRB are investigated by regional offices. If labour board officials find merit in the allegations and the company doesn’t settle, they prosecute the claims before an agency judge, whose ruling can be appealed to board members in Washington, and from there to a federal appeals court. 

The agency has the authority to order fired workers reinstated with back pay but not to make companies pay punitive damages.

In 2021, a bipartisan group of US labour board members ruled that Tesla had repeatedly violated federal law in Fremont, including by “coercively interrogating” union supporters and firing one as a result of his activism. 

Tesla has denied wrongdoing and is reportedly appealing that ruling.

Source: Bloomberg

(Links and quotes via original reporting)