Tensions are rising at Tesla Gigafactory Berlin as the automaker accuses a local union of a coup against the head of its workers’ council.
Tesla operates the only auto plant in Germany without a collective bargaining agreement with a union and it’s not sitting well with IG Metall, the most powerful union in the country.
Earlier this year, a majority of Tesla Gigafactory Berlin workers voted against union representatives of IG Metall in their new work council, but the union has still made significant progress. The powerful union managed to get 16 seats on the worker council, more than any other group.
IG Metall has been claiming that Tesla is using anti-union tactics and alleges issues with safety, pay, and work-life balance to justify unionizing.
Tesla has gone into overdrive, accusing Germany’s most powerful union, IG Metall, of attempting to block operations at its Berlin gigafactory. The row erupted after IG Metall filed a court motion to oust the factory’s works council head – a move Tesla branded as a “desperate” power grab.
The works council leader, notably not a union member, now finds himself in the firing line as IG Metall cites alleged breaches of German labour laws. But Tesla is having none of it, slamming the union for “sowing unrest” in what it claims are perfectly happy ranks at its state-of-the-art electric vehicle plan