The U.S. labor board recently cleared Tesla Inc TSLA of allegations of unlawful dismissal of employees in its Autopilot software department, amid a union campaign. The case was based on the claim that these dismissals were targeted to disrupt union organization within the company.
What Happened: As reported by Reuters, the complaint was filed by Workers United, a union looking to organize Tesla’s workforce in the Buffalo, New York-based gigafactory. The union claimed that Tesla had laid off a number of employees shortly after the announcement of a union campaign. Tesla, however, refuted these allegations, citing performance issues as the reason for the terminations.
Despite dismissing the dismissal-related claims, the labor board confirmed two separate claims regarding Tesla’s unlawful use of technology rules in the workplace and the company’s attempts to solicit worker grievances to undermine union support. These allegations were confirmed by NLRB spokeswoman Kayla Blado.
Blado also stated that if Tesla does not settle these claims, the NLRB will issue a complaint to be heard by an administrative judge.
The Buffalo campaign is part of a broader effort to unionize Tesla facilities across the country. This has led to a series of complaints filed with the labor board, alleging illegal union-busting activities by the company.
Why It Matters: This development follows a series of events earlier this year, when dozens of workers at Tesla’s Buffalo plant were reportedly let go following their steps to unionize. Workers United accused the company of dismissing these employees to retaliate against and discourage union activity.
The very next day, Tesla released a statement refuting the claims that workers were terminated due to their unionization efforts. The EV maker disputed the Union Workers United report and maintained that the allegations were false.
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