UAW interested in unionizing Tesla factory

[Az_Rael]

UAW wants union for Tesla factory

"We’re watching that very closely," UAW President Dennis Williams told reporters in speaking about Tesla. "We just believe workers ought to have a voice in the workplace, and they ought to have collective bargaining rights."

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

 

[CoastalCruiser]

I hold up two fingers in the form of a cross.

If not effective I'll try other finger combinations.

After being fired for a while they all got their jobs back. Thanx to their union reps. They're building a car for you right now.

 

[trils0n]

Last time they tried this, Tesla workers voted "NO" to joining the union, and they went away for a while. Hopefully they will continue to reject the UAW (nothing against unions in general, was in one, as was my father, but UAW is a mess IMO).

 

[Rockster]

This would be wonderful. Then the UAW could bring the same value to Tesla that they brought to GM.

 

[Zroiron]

This would be wonderful. Then the UAW could bring the same value to Tesla that they brought to GM.

And run it in the ground!!

 

[heysteveh]

UAW wants union for Tesla factory

"We’re watching that very closely," UAW President Dennis Williams told reporters in speaking about Tesla. "We just believe workers ought to have a voice in the workplace, and they ought to have collective bargaining rights."

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

I am not necessarily against unions. However to just assume that because TESLA manufactures cars they must be like all the other car manufacturers and need a union for their employees is jumping the gun. TESLA is a start-up company that has gotten into making cars. Even if a case was made that their assembly plant workers could benefit from a union, I would quesiton if the UAW would be qualified to fill that capacity. All of Tesla, including their assembly plant, runs differently then other car companies and therefore a union would have to be different then the UAW to be effective IMHO.

 

[deonb]

@Zroiron - "Dislike" on OP

Seriously. Shoot the messenger much?

 

[Az_Rael]

@Zroiron - "Dislike" on OP

Seriously. Shoot the messenger much?

LOL, I hadn't even noticed that. Ah well.

I work in a unionized shop (IAM). I have mixed feelings about the union, and many of the unionized employees do as well. It will be interesting to see if Teslas workers vote to unionize or not.

 

[hockeythug]

I don't like unions but if the employees eventually vote yes then so be it. Their choice.

 

[MSullivan]

This would be wonderful. Then the UAW could bring the same value to Tesla that they brought to GM.

That would be a shame.
Of course someone will say yes but the government bailed them out. True, how many cars would Tesla sell without a $7500 tax credit per car? 200,000 cars at $7500 is 1.5 billion dollars (and Elon has a trick to get more than that at full credit).

GM profits more than double on North America earnings

 

[Cosmacelf]

The day Tesla acquires a union is the day the stock price crashes through the floor.

 

[MSullivan]

The day Tesla acquires a union is the day the stock price crashes through the floor.

Yep just like when a Tesla catches on fire. And then the stock bounces right back when the market figures out they overreacted.

 

[Bimbels]

It will be interesting to see if Teslas workers vote to unionize or not.

Exactly. It is their choice and right as Americans to organize if they feel they need to. As long as they are treated fairly and compensated fairly, the UAW will have a hard time getting the cards signed to even authorize a vote, much less getting the vote to pass.

And not all unions are bad for customers or the company. In my industry, the 2 best airlines in terms of both profits and customer satisfaction (JD Power award) are heavily unionized. (Southwest and Alaska.) Also, I don't see their stock suffering because of it. Lets not make generalizations. (Incidentally, my work group at my airline is not unionized.)

 

[Krugerrand]

There are some rich comments in that article from the UAW President. Maybe he should spend some time convincing his home state to allow Tesla to sell and service cars there.

 

[brianman]

All the old guard wants their piece of the pie. Whenever there's money to be made, the parasites venture forth. Only positive sign from this development is that the industry is taking Tesla seriously.

 

[Todd Burch]

Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[Zroiron]

Until you've managed UAW workers and put up with their union steward's BS, most of you have no idea what the UAW is doing to the productivity of many companies! (Been there, done that!)

 

[Eclectic]

Until you've managed UAW workers and put up with their union steward's BS, most of you have no idea what the UAW is doing to the productivity of many companies! (Been there, done that!)

And I'll add to that...until you've had to deal with the National Labor Relations Board and put up with their above the law tactics, most of you have no idea what the NLRB is doing to the productivity of many companies. While the bulk of my practice is corporate/securities/constitutional law, I've had to deal with the NLRA and NLRB in the last few years and it's beyond Kafka. If the NLRB decides it doesn't want to play nice with your company, they will hit you with fines, censures, claims and injunctions until you no longer can do anything but respond to NLRB complaints.

It's only become worse as the federal government consolidates power away from states and expands the practice of legislating through regulations. Right now Tesla is not on the government's sh!t list, but having a unionized workforce would do nothing but set Tesla up for massive government intervention and mischief.

 

[bhzmark]

Once upon a time, far far away, unions were an appropriate response to a monopolistic employer of uneducated exploited labor -- like coal miners in a coal town in middle of nowhere Appalachia.

Now unions are the single best cause of the decline in US manufacturing and other unionized jobs. Unions rot whatever they touch: public schools, law enforcement, manufacturing, etc.

Unions kill manufacturing jobs in the US. Tesla creates manufacturing jobs in the US.

Luckily Tesla employees will likely be too smart to be taken in by union marketing efforts.

 

[CoastalCruiser]

It's really about who has the power, isn't it? There was a time in the post-industrial US when the need for unions -i.e. collective bargaining, legal representation, etc.- was great, as manufacturers abused workers to extremes, threatening to simply replace a complaining worker from the queue of unemployed men waiting outside the fence.

The companies had all the power. They used the power. Then they misused the power. Finally they abused the power.

Now we have unions, who can call for slowdowns, stoppages, and get workers reinstated after being fired, even if they return to work from lunch high as a kite and step in front of an industrial sized piece of machinery.

The unions have all the power. They are using the power. They are misusing the power. And they are of course abusing the power.

Power corrupts.

But don't assume this will continue at Tesla. Among all the paradigm shifts Mr. Elon is sponsoring we may see a change here too. If it is not already so. There's more to this movement than just the transformation of the transportation industry.




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ps: eclectic (I grant an unconditional license for media use of my posts on this forum, whether or not copyright has been claimed, which license extends to all responses to my posts & fair use of other posts to provide context.)

I just love attorneys.