Tesla's Elon Musk: No Need For Unions--Just Fire The Assholes

From SF Chron 5/21/10:

"Asked about his posture toward the United Auto Workers, which had represented Nummi's rank-and-file, Musk said, 'on the question of the union we're neutral,' adding that Tesla would neither encourage nor oppose workers organizing.

'We're thrilled,' said Sergio Santos, president of UAW Local 2244, which had fought to keep Toyota in Fremont before it ceased production of gas-powered cars there April 1. 'It's going to put some people back to work and bring a lot of jobs to California.' "

why misconstrue Musk's comment from 2009 where he seems to be talking about firing a manager?

And he's now on the record for neutrality, which the unions say we want. Tesla has already said it would hire back some of the NUMMI workers, who are UAW members, so if they thought having that representation then was great, what's the problem with organizing now with a neutral employer? If the union can't win, it's a sign that their concessionary stance & total capitulation to GM hasn't served the workers.

If you want to support Mr. Musk, you won't find a sympathetic ear in indybay readers. The comment you don't like was on a business website...go bug them.

Whatever Musk claims is a lie. He is not neutral and is explicitly anti-union. Musk hired Steven Cooper with expertise in "union avoidance (aka union busting) as head of HR right from the beginning to establish a strong anti-union program within Tesla.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenmcooper1

So far, they have not hired back NUMMI union workers. They have hired back former NUMMI managers to keep out former NUMMI union workers.

http://www.sfgate.com/business/bottomline/article/A-brutal-Labor-Day-for-some-ex-Nummi-workers-4780318.php

Framing the UAW as "concessionary" is the usual leftist anti-union attack. When it comes to unions, the "leftists", particularly the Trotskyists will always falsely frame unions as concessionary as a matter of policy.

And the lie about GM is perpetuated in this thread with sock puppets (responses=same person as OP). NUMMI produced Toyotas using the Toyota Production System and gets regular audits from Toyota engineers from Japan. GM's role was nothing more than ownership on paper. Blaming GM is a red herring to take attention away from Toyota's responsibility for running a union busting operation to get rid of their only union plant so they could keep wages at their other plants low. That was the only reason Toyota shut down NUMMI.