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tesla workers united
'Retaliation': Tesla Fires Buffalo Workers Day After Musk Was Informed of Union Drive
The move is "designed to terrify everyone about potential consequences of them organizing, as well as to attempt to cull the herd," said one union organizer.
Feb 16, 2023
Tesla fired dozens of workers at its factory in Buffalo, New York on Wednesday, one day after an organizing committee at the plant sent an email to billionaire chief executive officer Elon Musk informing him of their new unionization campaign.
In a complaint filed with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the union Workers United accused the electric vehicle manufacturer of illegally terminating the employees "in retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity," Bloomberg first reported on Thursday. The union asked the NLRB to pursue a federal court injunction "to prevent irreparable destruction of employee rights resulting from Tesla's unlawful conduct."
"These firings are the exact reason why we need a union at Tesla."
The outlet noted that "several of the terminated employees had been involved in labor discussions, according to the union, including at least one who was a member of the organizing committee."
That worker was Arian Berek, who said in a statement provided by the union: "I feel blindsided... 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."
Jeff Hirsch, a labor and employment law professor at the University of North Carolina, noted that "timing is often a key factor in retaliation cases like this. And this timing is not good for Tesla."
\u201cTiming is often a key factor in retaliation cases like this. And this timing \u2026 is not good for Tesla.\u201d— Jeff Hirsch (@Jeff Hirsch) 1676553536
Berek and 24 other Autopilot analysts at Tesla's Buffalo plant have been organizing with Workers United, a Service Employees International Union affiliate that has won hundreds of union elections at Starbucks locations across the country since December 2021. Its first Starbucks victory was at a cafe in Buffalo just six miles from the Tesla factory.
Jaz Brisack, a Workers United organizer and former barista who was illegally fired by Starbucks after she helped unionize that Buffalo shop, is one of the driving forces behind the new organizing effort at Tesla.
Brisack called Wednesday's terminations "a form of collective retaliation against the group of workers that started this organizing effort."
The firings are "designed to terrify everyone about potential consequences of them organizing, as well as to attempt to cull the herd," she told Bloomberg.
"We're angry. But this won't slow us down or stop us. They want us to be scared, but they just started a stampede."
According to the outlet: "On Wednesday, the day after Bloomberg News quoted several Tesla employees discussing their workplace concerns, the company sent staff a message announcing new sections of its policy on workplace technology usage. The changes included a directive to 'protect the confidentiality, integrity, and security of all Tesla business information.'"
Tesla's Buffalo plant employs more than 800 Autopilot analysts who categorize data to support the company's automated driving technology. Tesla fired hundreds of Autopilot workers in California last June, and Musk has called for automating such jobs as evidence mounts that the technology poses massive safety risks.
Workers United aims to unionize the Buffalo factory's Autopilot analysts, hired at roughly $19 per hour to start, along with about 1,000 manufacturing employees. In addition to better job security and higher pay, organizers are seeking to gain decision-making power for workers and to reduce invasive productivity monitoring techniques that workers say are harmful to their health.
"We're angry. But this won't slow us down or stop us," the union tweeted Thursday morning. "They want us to be scared, but they just started a stampede."
\u201cWe\u2019re angry. But this won\u2019t slow us down or stop us. They want us to be scared, but they just started a stampede. These firings are the exact reason why we need a union @tesla. We believe we can do this, but more importantly we believe we WILL do this. \n\ud83e\uddac\u270a\ud83c\udffb\u270a\ud83c\udffc\u270a\ud83c\udfff\u270a\ud83c\udffe\u270a\ud83c\udffd\ud83e\uddac\u201d— TeslaWorkersUnited (@TeslaWorkersUnited) 1676554367
Sara Costantino, an Autopilot worker and member of the organizing committee, told Bloomberg that the Wednesday firings are inspiring more workers to support the effort to form Tesla's first-ever union.
“It's pretty clear the message they're sending. They're trying to scare us," 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 added.
Unlike other major U.S. automakers that were unionized in the decades before a bipartisan neoliberal assault weakened the labor movement, there is currently no union presence at Tesla's factories. Founded in 2003, the relatively new company has thwarted previous organizing efforts.
As More Perfect Union noted on Tuesday, "Workers have tried to unionize Tesla before, and the response has been extreme union-busting, some of it illegal."
The National Labor Relations Act prohibits employers from retaliating against workers for taking collective action to improve workplace conditions, including by forming unions.
NLRB officials ruled in 2021 that Tesla repeatedly violated federal labor law in Fremont, California when it "coercively interrogat[ed]" pro-union workers and fired one of them over his activism. The corporation has denied wrongdoing and is appealing the decision.
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Tesla Workers Are Organizing a Union in Buffalo—With Help From Starbucks Veterans
"People are tired of being treated like robots," said a member of the union's organizing committee.
Feb 14, 2023
Tesla workers at a factory in Buffalo, New York told billionaire chief executive officer Elon Musk in an early Tuesday email that they are seeking to form the electric vehicle manufacturer's first-ever union.
Employees told Musk, who also owns Twitter and has previously expressed opposition to unions on the platform, that they are organizing for "better pay and job security alongside a reduction in production pressures that they say have been harmful to their health," Bloomberg News first reported.
"Tesla monitors keystrokes to track how long employees spend per task and how much of the day they spend actively working," according to the outlet, which cited a half-dozen workers. "This leads some to avoid taking bathroom breaks."
Al Celli, a member of the Tesla Workers United (TWU) organizing committee, told the outlet that "people are tired of being treated like robots."
"The narrative on unions has shifted thanks to Starbucks and other companies doing it first."
On Tuesday, organizers plan to disseminate Valentine-themed pamphlets at the plant that say, "Roses are red / violets are blue / forming a union starts with you," and include a link to the TWU website where employees can sign union cards.
As the website reads, "We are Tesla workers seeking a voice on the job by forming a union."
"Unionizing will further accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy because it will give us a voice in our workplace and in the goals we set for ourselves to accomplish," the message from the organizing committee continues. "Having greater sustainability in our own work lives and individual well-being will translate into greater ability to meet those goals."
It ends with a demand that management agrees to "fair election principles so all voices can be heard."
Unlike other major U.S. automakers that were unionized in the decades before the neoliberal counter-revolution weakened the labor movement, there is currently no union presence at Tesla's factories. Founded in 2003, the relatively new company has thwarted previous organizing efforts.
As More Perfect Union noted on Tuesday, "Workers have tried to unionize Tesla before, and the response has been extreme union-busting, some of it illegal." The outlet shared a video it produced last year featuring "a worker on the receiving end of this mistreatment."
\u201cEx-Tesla worker Richard Ortiz spoke out to us about Musk\u2019s illegal union-busting at Tesla.\n\nRichard Ortiz tried to organize his coworkers at Tesla's CA factory. In response, Tesla "coercively interrogated" him three times, then fired him illegally.\u201d— More Perfect Union (@More Perfect Union) 1650917199
Employees at Tesla's Buffalo plant are organizing with the Service Employees International Union affiliate Workers United, which has won hundreds of union elections at Starbucks cafes across the U.S. since December 2021. Its initial Starbucks victory was in Buffalo roughly six miles from the Tesla factory.
Jaz Brisack, a Workers United organizer and former Starbucks barista who was illegally terminated after leading the successful union campaign in Buffalo, is "helping spearhead the new organizing effort at Tesla," Bloomberg reported.
Not only did Starbucks workers in Buffalo catalyze an ongoing nationwide unionization wave at the company, but now veterans of that battle are trying to help workers at one of the city's largest nonunionized workplaces do the same.
"This is what a movement looks like," tweeted Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. "Solidarity forever!"
\u201cSupport Tesla workers and follow @united_tesla. This is what a movement looks like. @SBWorkersUnited! Solidarity Forever! Let\u2019s go!\u201d— Sara Nelson (@Sara Nelson) 1676378233
Sharing a photo he took with TWU members on Tuesday morning, Richard Bensiger, former organizing director at the AFL-CIO and founder of the Organizing Institute, observed that "Buffalo really is a union town."
\u201cBuffalo really is a union town. Proud to stand with Tesla workers organizing for a voice on the job.\u201d— Richard Bensinger (@Richard Bensinger) 1676379548
Brisack called Tesla "another example of workers showing that there is no such thing as an unorganizable workplace."
As Bloomberg reported, TWU is seeking to unionize "more than 800 Autopilot analysts in nonengineering roles that contribute to Tesla's automated-driving development, including by identifying objects in images its vehicles capture and helping its systems recognize them on the road," along with "roughly 1,000 manufacturing employees."
Celli, the TWU organizer, told the outlet that she and her fellow Autopilot workers, hired at roughly $19 per hour to start, "have such a rush to get things done that I don't know if it's actually being well thought out."
"I want a voice with my company."
Tesla fired hundreds of Autopilot workers in California last June, and Musk has advocated for automating such jobs despite mounting evidence that the technology poses a major safety hazard.
Tesla employee Keenan Lasch told Bloomberg that "the narrative on unions has shifted thanks to Starbucks and other companies doing it first," especially for Generation Z workers who constitute a large percentage of Autopilot analysts.
This isn't the first time that current and ex-Starbucks employees with unionization experience have lent support to fellow workers attempting to organize elsewhere. Last month, workers at a Peet's Coffee & Tea in Davis, California formed the chain's first unionized shop with help from Starbucks Workers United organizer Tyler Keeling.
"I want a voice with my company," Sara Costantino, a Tesla worker in Buffalo, said Tuesday. "We don't really have one."
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