Tesla CEO Elon Musk reaffirmed his resistance to unionization at Tesla facilities, saying it would mean the company failed.
At The New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Mr. Musk said unions simply aren’t necessary at his electric vehicle company.
“I disagree with unions because I don’t like anything which creates a lord and peasants sort of thing,” he said. “I think unions naturally try to create negativity at a company.”
He went on to say that lower-ranked employees at Tesla can rise to the very top of management and that all workers “eat at the same table. … We’ve made many people working the line, who didn’t even know what stocks were, millionaires.”
Mr. Musk’s anti-union stance has been well documented. When formal rumblings started in 2018, he said workers were more than welcome to start a union, but he cautioned they would be giving up a lot.
“Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union,” he posted on what was then called Twitter. “Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.”
Tesla is dealing with a union battle in Sweden, where over 100 mechanics are on strike after the company refused to sign a collective bargaining agreement. Other prominent unions, including those representing postal and dock workers, have stood in solidarity with the mechanics and have hampered Tesla’s operation in the country.
In the U.S. this week, the United Auto Workers began a worker organization campaign at nonunion automakers. Over 100,000 workers with nonunion firms have signed union cards on the UAW’s website, signaling that Tesla workers could begin asking for a lot more.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.