Labor unions are pressuring Californian lawmakers to punish Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors for failing to fall under an aggressive unionization campaign. This law would end the generous tax breaks that Tesla has since received from the state of California.
The California Labor Foundation, an AFL-CIO affiliate and one of the state’s most powerful labor unions, demanded that top level Democrats produce a law that restrict tax breaks received by non-union controlled companies. Their September 12th letter was addressed to the chair of the Senate and the California state budget committees, urging them and the lawmakers to approve a set of laws which would require, “clean vehicle manufacturers to be certified as fair and responsible employers in order to be eligible for consumer rebates,” where the term “fair and responsible” are defined having a company completely union controlled.
The letter says, “Public investments should reflect our values—companies who benefit from public dollars should follow the law and respect workers’ rights … The State of California has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates … we must consider whether public resources should support companies where workers face economic insecurity and threats to their rights.”
The letter is received at a time when the United Auto Workers – UAW is attempting to unionize Tesla’s Fremont factory which already – and without union presence – provide high paying employment to more than 10,000 workers. The campaign to seize control of Tesla Motors, through unionization has faced the strongest opposition from Tesla employees themselves. However, this has not stopped union agents from spreading misinformation. One such agent, Jose Moran, claims that that Elon Musk’s companies are characterized by labor practices where “preventable injuries,” “mandatory overtime,” and confidentiality agreements “that threatens consequences if we exercise our right to speak out” are allegedly commonplace.
Unionists have also claimed that, “[Tesla] violated the [National Labor Relations Act] by intimidating, creating the appearance of surveillance, and conducting surveillance on [redacted] and others for their union activities.” A lawsuit filed by another union agent claims that, “[Tesla] through its agency violated the Act by instructing employees that they were not allowed to pass out any literature unless it was pre-approved by the employer.”
Tesla on the other hand denied all the allegations, and called them “baseless” and “entirely without merit.” A Tesla spokesperson took time to clarify the politics behind the union’s baseless accusations, explaining, “Faced with declining membership, an overwhelming loss at a Nissan plant earlier this month, corruption charges that were recently leveled against union leaders who misused UAW funds, and failure to gain traction with our employees, it’s no surprise the union is feeling pressured to continue its publicity campaign against Tesla.”
While, in an ideal world, no company whatsoever would be receiving taxpayer funded tax breaks and support – what the Democrats of California are doing is attempting to single out Tesla, among the thousands of other businesses across the state, because Tesla has refused to hand over the company to the unions. This is a case of pure political intimidation – and it shows where the true power lies. Not with the workers, or laborers, but with the (obviously corrupt) Union Bosses, greedy for dues and drunk on political power.
Lawmakers have till Friday to pass this corrupt legislation before the legislature adjourns for the recess.