Tesla, Inc., an Americanelectric car andsolar panel manufacturer, has more than 140,000 workers employed across its global operations as of January 2024,[update] almost none of whom areunionized.[1] Despite allegations ofhigh injury rates, long hours, and below-industry pay, efforts to unionize the workforce have been largely unsuccessful.Elon Musk, Tesla'sCEO,has commented negatively on trade unions in relation to the company. Tesla has been involved inlabor disputes in theUnited States,Germany, andSweden, including an ongoingstrike in Sweden.
Tesla is the only major American automaker whose workforce is not represented by aunion in the United States. None of the union drives inTesla Fremont Factory andGigafactory New York have been successful. In late 2023,United Auto Workers announced renewedunionization efforts.
In Germany,Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg's non-union status and lower wages compared to industry standards has weakened the structural power of the automotive unionIG Metall. Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg andTesla Automation haveworks councils, without unioncollective agreement coverage.Tesla Automation signed a remuneration-relatedworks agreement with its works council, while refusing to sign a comparablecollective agreement with IG Metall.
In Sweden, mechanics from TM Sweden, a Tesla vehicle service subsidiary, and affiliated withIF Metall have been onstrike since October 2023, which expanded when otherSwedish, Danish and Norwegian unions joined by initiating their ownsolidarity strikes. This is the longest strike in Sweden since the 1938Saltsjöbaden Agreement and still ongoing as of May 2025.[update]
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Tesla employs 70,000 workers across the United States as of 2024[update].[2] Tesla is the onlyAmerican automaker whose workers are not represented by a union in the United States.[3] None of theunionization efforts since 2017 have been successful. These efforts were led byUnited Auto Workers (UAW) inFremont Factory in 2017,[4]United Steelworkers andInternational Brotherhood of Electrical Workers inGigafactory New York (Giga New York) in 2018,[5] andWorkers United in Giga New York in 2023.[6] Several months later, UAW announced renewed nation-wide organizing efforts.[2]
Employer opposition to unions is common in the United States. In cases of illegal interference, such asunfair labor practices, theNational Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has limited mechanisms to enforce the law under theNational Labor Relations Act – which codifiesworker rights. Unlike theOccupational Safety and Health Administration, the NLRB cannot imposefines.[7] Employees in aworkplace can form a union if a majority signunion cards or vote in asupervised election. Despite overall lowunion density (ratio of unionized to non-unionized workers), recentorganizing successes have renewed public interest.[2][8] According to labor sociologist Joshua Mayor, unionization efforts sometimes fail not because workers are against unions, but because workers do not believe they can win.[9] Then-presidential candidateDonald Trump stated that he supported Musk's policies ofunion busting during an interview with Musk. TheUnited Auto Workers later filed federallabor charges against Trump and Musk.[10][11][12]
Tesla acquired the formerly unionizedNUMMI plant inFremont, California in 2010, which became theTesla Fremont Factory.[13][14] Tesla employs 20,000 workers in the Fremont Factory.[2]
United Auto Workers (UAW) presidentDennis Williams expressed interest in unionizing the factory in May 2016, shortly after Tesla announced increased local annual production targets of 500,000 vehicles by 2018, which would have placed it in the top ten sellers of new vehicles within the US.[15] In the fall of 2016, Jose Moran, a Fremont Factory employee, contacted UAW, going public with a "Fair Future at Tesla" campaign in February 2017, citing high injury rates, long hours and below industry pay as motivations.[4][16] In October 2017, Tesla fired Richard Ortiz, who was involved with the organizing campaign, which theNLRB later ruled to beillegal retaliation.[17]
| Elon Musk (@elonmusk) tweeted: |
Replying to @dmatkins137
Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. 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.
May 21, 2018[18]
CEOElon Musk published atweet in May 2018,[18] that implied workers would losestocks if they formed a union. Three years later, the NLRB ordered Musk to delete that tweet, and reinstate former employee Ortiz with full back pay.[19][20] Additionally, Tesla would have to put up a notice in all of its US factories addressing the unlawful tweet.[21]
Tesla appealed the NLRB rulings to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which in 2023 initially upheld the NLRB order.[22] In a published response, Ortiz stated "I look forward to returning to work at Tesla and working with my co-workers to finish the job of forming a union".[22] In a 2024 rehearing, the court reversed its decision, holding Musk's tweets to beconstitutionally protected speech and that the NLRB must reconsider its order to reinstate Ortiz.[23]
Four years after the initial tweet, Musk invited UAW, via another tweet, to hold aunion election at their convenience without retaliation.[24] UAW presidentRay Curry responded that if Tesla was serious about supporting organizing, Tesla would acknowledge they broke the law when they fired Ortiz and Musk published the initial tweet.[25]
ACNBC report in 2022 found that Tesla paidpublic relations firmMikeWorldWide to monitor a Tesla employeeFacebook group and union organizers onsocial media from 2017 to 2018. MikeWorldWide monitored discussions regarding allegedunfair labor practices at Tesla and asexual harassment lawsuit. Former and current Tesla employees told CNBC that they believed the company continued to monitor its workers on social media as of 2022.[update][26]
UAW won30–160 percent salary increases at the "Big Three" in late 2023.[8] The new UAW presidentShawn Fain attributed previous unionizing failures tointernal corruption, "coziness" with management and bad collective agreements.[2] UAW subsequently launched organizing drives at 13 non-union automakers, including Tesla,[2] with a combined organizing budget of US$40 million through 2026.[9] By contrast, UAW had spent $422,000 on Tesla alone in 2017 (equivalent to $541,000 in 2024[27]).[28]
In December 2018, 300 workers at thesolar panel factory atGiga New York inBuffalo, New York, announced aunion drive with the support ofUnited Steelworkers (USW) andInternational Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.[5] USW filed a complaint with theNLRB the following June, alleging that Tesla illegally surveilled workers and fired six of them in retaliation,[29] but the case was withdrawn in August.[30]
Workers wholabel data forTesla Autopilot at Giga New York in Buffalo announced a union drive withWorkers United on February 14, 2023.[6] Workers United previously led thefirst successful union drive at Starbucks, also in Buffalo, 6 mi (9.7 km) away.[31][32] A day after the announcement, Workers United filed charges with the NLRB against Tesla for firing 37 workers (including one organizing committee member) in alleged retaliation for union activity and to allegedly discourage union organizing.[33][34] In November 2023, the NLRB dismissed the retaliatory firing charge, but found merit in the other charges regarding workplace surveillance andcaptive audience meetings.[35]
Following allegations raised by Workers United, the NLRB regional director in Buffalo, New York filed a complaint with the national board in April 2024 alleging that Tesla had unlawfully implemented company policies to prevent workers at its Buffalo plant from unionizing, including by implementing a corporate ITacceptable use policy that restrictedworkplace organizing.[36]
Tesla is one of the few automakers inGermany that has not signed any individual company collective agreements, nor is a member of theEmployer Association in theMetal and Electronics Industry [de] as of 2024.[update] The Metal and Electronics Industry refers to the network of companies that negotiate withIG Metall.[37]
German labor representation has a dual structure oftrade unions andworks councils. Trade unions likeIG Metall negotiatecollective agreements with individual employers andregional collective agreements with employers associations (e.g. textile or chemical industry).Works councils are made up of elected employees in the workplace. They negotiateworks agreements and have variousco-determination, participation and information rights. In theory works councils do not overlap withcollective bargaining regardingwage adjustments. While formally separate structures, many works council members are de-factounion representatives. Unions are financed by membershipdues which are typically1% of a member's salary. The more union members and the higher their wages (whether or not they are covered by a collective agreement), the more financial resources a union has.[38]
Tesla poses a structural challenge to IG Metall in the automotive sector, becauseelectric vehicle production requires30 percent fewer workers than traditionalinternal combustion-engine vehicles.[39] IG Metall membership declined by9% from 2005 to 2021, while the automotivelabor market has grown, especially in companies without regional collective agreements.[40] The overall trend towardvehicle electrification and a non-union Tesla weakens IG Metall'sbargaining power in the broaderGerman automotive sector due to lowerunion density (ratio of unionized to non-unionized workers).[39]
Tesla acquiredGrohmann Engineering (now Tesla Automation) in January 2017, inheriting the existingworks council. According to IG Metall and the works council chair Uwe Herzig said that wages at Grohmann Engineering in April, after the acquisition, were25 percent to30 percent below the equivalent of theregional collective agreements in theMetal and Electronics Industry [de].[41] In October, management and the works council concluded aworks agreement that brought employee wages in line with the regional collective agreement without explicitly signing a union collective agreement. IG Metall pushed for formal ratification, while acknowledging that there had been a "very good negotiation result". It credited the threat ofstrikes with pressuring Tesla to sign the works agreements.[42]
According to IG Metall, in October 2021, Tesla offered employees at the newGigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg (Giga Berlin), wages that were20 percent below the corresponding collective agreements provided at other automotive plants in Germany.[43][44]
Seven non-union employees at Giga Berlin initiated theworks council election [de] process in November 2021. Any employee with at least six months of tenure is eligible to run as a works council candidate. Tesla ultimately planned to hire a total of 12,000 employees. In the first six months, Tesla hired 1,800 employees, mostly middle-management. IG Metall expressed concern that the future works council would be dominated by management, as only those with 6 months' tenure would be eligible to run.[45][46] In March 2022, employees elected their first works council. Nearly half voted for the manager-friendly "Gigavoice" slate.[47]
IG Metall called for an investigation in January 2023, after workers reported being forced to work longer hours, with less resting time betweenshifts. IG Metall also stated that workers were being forced to signnon-disclosure agreements and therefore fearedretaliation if they openly discussed their working conditions.[48][49]
Giga Berlin's initial workforce of 1,800 employees doubled quickly enough to trigger a rule requiring anotherworks council election 2 years after the first one, instead of the usual 4 years.[45] The second works council election was scheduled initially for March 18, 2024 to March 20, 2024. IG Metall petitioned theFrankfurt (Oder) Labor Court [de] for apreliminary injunction against theelectoral board's proposed timeline. The original timeline set a deadline of February 15 for submitting candidate nominations lists. Given that Tesla factory production was suspended earlier for a month until February 11, due tosupply chain disruptions by theHouthi militia in the Red Sea, this would have left each candidate list with only several work days to collect the mandatory 50 signatures from co-workers.[50] The Frankfurt (Oder) Labor Court granted IG Metall's petition, but the electoral board and Tesla appealed to the higherBerlin-Brandenburg State Labor Court [de], which overturned the lower court and upheld the original election timeline.[51]
The election concluded on March 20, 2024, with 234 candidates from 9 lists.[51] With39% of the vote the "IG Metall Tesla Workers GFBB" list won the plurality of seats, with 16 out of 39, making them a major opposition. The remaining 23 seats were divided among four non-union affiliated lists; 15 seats for "Giga United", 5 seats for "One Team", 2 seats for "Giga Fair" and 1 seat for "Giga für Alle" (transl. Giga for all).[52] Michaela Schmitz, the current works council chair, is vocally anti-union. During the final days of the works council election campaign, Schmitz ended a rally speech with "What we don't need, is a union!" (German:Was wir nicht brauchen, ist eine Gewerkschaft!).[53] On April 4, Schmitz was re-elected by the works council for a second term as chair. Schmitz comes from the "Giga United" list , which is mostly composed ofmanagers.[54] In total, 8,917 Tesla workers voted,[52] out of 12,500 eligible to vote.[54]
An IG Metall member of the works council was fired in October 2024, in what IG Metall described as "aggressive tactics" against workers. IG Metall countered with its own lawsuit in December 2024, to forcibly remove Michaela Schmitz as works council chair; claiming she had obstructed pro-union works council members.[55]
In September 2024, in an attempt to crack down on workerabsenteeism, Tesla representatives conducted unannounced visits to the homes of employees out onsick leave.[56]
Mechanics affiliated withIF Metall, a Swedish trade union, initiated astrike against TM Sweden, a Tesla vehicle service subsidiary, on October 27, 2023, over the company's refusal to sign a collective agreement.[57] The ongoing strike is the longest ever in Sweden within the past 80 years. Strikes are very rare under the "Swedish model" of social partnership, which was codified in the 1938Saltsjöbaden Agreement, still in force today.[58]
TM Sweden employs 130 mechanics in Sweden. About half of them are IF Metal members.[58] The strike, initially affecting mechanics at ten workshops servicing Tesla vehicles, later spread to other facilities servicing various car brands. While workers continued with their regular tasks, they refrained from servicing Tesla vehicles during the strike.[59]Strikebreakers arrived at Tesla service centers, prompting concerns among the strikers about their impact on thelabor dispute.[60][58] Strikers werebanned from the company premises. According to union leaderGabriel Kuhn, Tesla contacted individual strikers after family members shared news of the strikes on social media, which discouraged non-union participation in the strike.[58] According to statistics from theSwedish National Mediation Office [sv], one-third of the 130 mechanics participated in the original strike.[61] Non-union members and even some IF Metal union members did not participate in the strikes.[58]
Other Swedish trade unions joined in a month later in November 2023,[62] throughsympathy (solidarity) strikes, which are legal in Sweden.[63] TheSwedish Transport Workers' Union (Swedish:Svenska Transportarbetareförbundet) blocked the loading and unloading of Tesla cars,[64][65][66] while dockworker, electrician and postal unions halted services to Tesla.[62] Elon Musk has reportedly instructed TM Sweden not to sign any collective agreements.[67] TheSwedish Union for Service and Communications Employees (Swedish:Service- och Kommunikationsfacket) expanded the strike by halting maintenance and installation of Teslacharging stations.[61] Over the next few months, solidarity strikes for the Swedish campaign spread to otherNordic countries, with port workers from theUnited Federation of Danish Workers (Danish:Fagligt Fælles Forbund),[68]United Federation of Trade Unions (Norwegian:Fellesforbundet)[69] andFinnish Transport Workers' Union (Finnish:Auto- ja Kuljetusalan Työntekijäliitto) joining the strikes.[70] Tesla maneuvered around the union blockade by moving vehicles by land instead of sea, and sold1% more cars in 2024 than in 2023.[71]
The strike led to thePensionDanmark [da], apension fund, to divest its Teslashares in protest.[72] In response to the escalations, Tesla posted a job opening for a Swedish government affairs specialist with "significant experience with Nordic legislative and regulatory advocacy", presumably to help with lobbying efforts.[73] In September 2024, a foreign delegation ofFord Germany works council members andIG Metall deputies joined thepicket line at Tesla service center inMalmö, Sweden, as the strike continued.[74] In January 2025, Tesla appealed to theKarlstad administrative court to mandate theSwedish Transport Agency providelicense plates for newly sold vehicles, which is currently blocked by the postal union's sympathy strike.[75]
General Counsel argues that to remedy fully CEO Musk's unlawful May 20, 2018 tweet, which coercively threatened that employees would lose their stock options if they selected the Union as their representative, the Board should order the Respondent to have Musk delete that tweet and to post a notice addressing that violation at its facilities nationwide. ... (f) Direct its agent and supervisor, CEO Elon Musk, to delete his May 20, 2018 statement
'Tesla will do nothing to stop them,' the chief executive says
PensionDanmark, one of Denmark's largest pension funds, said on Wednesday it had decided to sell its holdings in Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab over the U.S. auto company's refusal to enter into agreements with labour unions. The decision is part of a growing Nordic movement to force Tesla to sign collective bargaining agreements with Swedish mechanics, who have been on strike since October.
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