Tesla workers launch campaign to form a union in New York

The workers of Tesla in the state of New York affirmed this Tuesday, February 14, that are launching a campaign to form a union, setting the stage for the latest job challenge for its CEO Elon Musk. In a letter to management at the electric car maker, the employees announced their plan to unionize with Workers United Upstate New York.

If formalized, this union would be the first to Teslawhich has so far managed to avoid unionization at its US facilities unlike other major automakers.

Musk has in the past been vocal in his opposition to unions and faced the ire of the US National Labor Relations Board when he was ordered to delete a 2018 tweet that said employees would lose their stock options if they formed a union. .

“We believe unionization will give us a voice in our workplace that we feel has been ignored to this point,” the workers said in a news release. “We’re just asking for a seat in the car that we helped build.”

The letter, first reported by Bloomberg News earlier that day, quoted employees asking Tesla to respect their right to organize a union and called on the world’s most valuable automaker to sign on to the Fair Pick Principles.

The employees said the right to organize a union is a fundamental civil right and the principles would prevent Tesla threaten or retaliate against workers for organizing a union.

“We as workers deserve to be able to negotiate a fair job with our employers.and there are a lot of changes I’d love to see at Tesla to benefit workers,” said Alexis Hy, a Tesla employee.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

With information from Reuters.