The union seeking to organize a Tesla plant in Buffalo, New York, has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming the electric vehicle giant fired dozens of workers just a day after their union drive went public this week, saying the move was in retaliation for their efforts to organize.
The Rochester Regional Joint Board of Workers United – which helped workers at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Buffalo form a group called Tesla Workers United that announced its organization efforts Tuesday – says the automaker issued pink slips to several workers on Wednesday in what it says amounts to “retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity.”
The Rochester Regional Join Board of Workers United aims to make the Buffalo factory Tesla’s first union shop, after successfully organizing the first labor union at Starbucks in the same city. The group says Tesla committed unfair labor practices by firing the workers, and is asking the NLRB for injunctive relief.
Tesla Workers United said Thursday they remain undeterred in their union drive.
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“We’re angry. But this won’t slow us down or stop us,” the group tweeted. “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.”
TWU said in its organizing announcement that the workers are seeking higher pay and “a voice on the job.”
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Tesla, led by CEO Elon Musk, has been able to successfully resist all previous unionization efforts, making it an outlier in the U.S. auto industry in which labor unions have significant membership numbers and power. The company did not respond to FOX Business’ multiple requests for comment this week on the union drive in Buffalo.
Musk has made his distaste for the United Auto Workers union known in the past.
Last year, he took a jab at the UAW over embezzlement charges against one of its former officials, tweeting that the union’s slogan should be “Fighting for the right to embezzle money from autoworkers.”
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FOX Business’ Timothy Nerozzi and the Associated Press contributed to this report.