NEW YORK – Tesla notified workers at its California car plant of pay increases across its US factories, the latest bump by a non-union automaker the United Auto Workers (UAW) is trying to organise.
All US production associates, material handlers and quality inspectors are getting a “market adjustment pay increase” to kick off the new year, according to a flyer posted at Tesla’s facility in Fremont, California. The document viewed by Bloomberg News does not say how much of a raise workers will get. Tesla’s senior director of human resources didn’t respond to questions.
Tesla is joining the likes of Toyota Motor, Volkswagen and Hyundai Motor in hiking pay at US plants after the UAW secured historic labour contracts in 2023 for workers at Ford Motor, General Motors (GM) and Stellantis. The union is now parlaying success at the bargaining table into a simultaneous organising drive targeting Tesla and a dozen other manufacturers, looking to double the number of auto workers in its ranks.
“Tesla is now following in the footsteps of Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen, and almost every other car company in raising wages in the wake of our historic victory” UAW president Shawn Fain said in a statement on Jan 11.
Without giving specifics on the pay bumps, the union leader said the raises still “fall far short of what the companies can afford and what auto workers are worth”.
Past efforts to represent staff at other major car companies either were rejected by workers at companies such as VW and Nissan Motor, or never made it to a vote at Tesla and others.
Mr Fain has blamed past failures on corruption within the union, cosiness with bosses and bad contracts. After unprecedented strikes at Ford, GM and Stellantis led to historic pay bumps, Mr Fain said the union “can beat anybody”.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has long been critical of the UAW and unions in general. He has also increasingly emphasised the importance of cost-cutting, saying many consumers still cannot afford the company’s electric vehicles because rising interest rates have offset repeated price cuts.
Higher pay for production workers will make the “game of pennies” that Mr Musk described on Tesla’s last earnings call more difficult. The company has about 140,000 employees globally, roughly half of which are in the US.
Tesla’s factory in Fremont alone employs more than 20,000 workers. Employees at the plant have formed a UAW organising committee, and the union has committed to providing whatever resources are necessary for the campaign there, a person familiar with the endeavour said in 2023.
The National Labour Relations Board ruled in 2021 that Tesla repeatedly violated labour law during the UAW’s prior organising efforts, including by firing an activist and suggesting that joining the union would cost workers stock options. Tesla has denied wrongdoing and is appealing against the ruling in federal court. BLOOMBERG
