The National Labor Relations Boarddecidedon Thursday that Tesla repeatedly violate U.S. labor law of nature over the preceding few geezerhood : first when the company fired a union militant in 2017 , and then when CEO Elon Muskput outa tweet potentially threatening that employees would fall back their stock options if they chose to unionize .
As part of the decision , the NLRB mandate that Musk take down the offending tweet and that he must propose a job back to the terminated employee , Richard Ortiz , within the next two weeks . Alongside that , Tesla was also govern to pay back Ortiz for “ any loss of earnings ” and “ any adverse taxation outcome ” that resulted from his firing .
Nothing stopping Tesla squad at our motorcar 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 .
Photo: Maja Hitij (Getty Images)
— Elon Musk ( @elonmusk)May 21 , 2018
Ortiz was one of the faces of “ Fair Future for Tesla , ” a 2017 organizing campaign that tried to unionize the automaker . Not long after Ortiz began lobbying for better workings conditions at Tesla , he wasunceremoniously firedfor — among other thing — plunder the company ’s confidentiality policies after he and others spoke to the press about the less - than - stellar condition at Tesla ’s facilities . The United Auto Workers ( UAW ) thenfiled allegationsagainst Tesla that same class .
Musk ’s 2018 tweet , meanwhile , immediately soak up criticism from the UAW , which file a disjoined complaint with the NLRBallegingthat the tweet was “ a threat to the workers and a direct violation of the Labor Act . ” At the meter , Tesla rebutted that the tweet just speculate the fact that union members at other major car manufacturer do n’t experience gunstock options . But as former NLRB chair Wilma Liebman pointed out in aBloomberg interviewabout the guinea pig , Tesla employee were likely to see that tweet as a warning : If they choose to unionize their workplace , then they ’ll lose their ancestry alternative .
by from rend this tweet and reinstating Ortiz ’s position , the NLRB mandated that Tesla retool its confidentiality agreement to think over interior toil constabulary , which “ protect employee when they mouth with the media about work conditions , parturiency disputes , or other terminal figure and conditions of employment . ” Previously , Tesla ’s rank and file and single file were told they could not talk to the medium without expressed write permission .
“ This is a great victory for workers who have the bravery to stand up and organize in a system of rules that is presently stacked heavily in favour of employer like Tesla who have no qualms about offend the natural law , ” said UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada ina assertion . ”
“ While we celebrate the justice in today ’s ruling , it nevertheless highlights the substantial flaw in US childbed legal philosophy , ” she went on . “ Here is a party that clearly broke the law and yet it is three years down the road before these workers achieve a modicum of justice . ”
We ’ve strain out to Tesla regarding the NLRB ’s decision and will update here when we get wind back .
CarsElon MuskTESLATesla Model 3Tesla RoadsterTesla , Inc. The Boring Company
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