On 2024 Labor Day: Bust the Union Busters & Racists at Fremont Elon Musk’s Tesla Plant!

On 2024 Labor Day
Bust The Union Busters & Racists At Fremont Elon Musk’s Tesla Plant
Victory To Striking Swedish Tesla Workers
For Union & Worker Rights For All Workers

Wednesday September 2, 2024 11:00 AM
Tesla Fremont Assembly Plant
Industrial Drive & Fremont Blvd
Fremont, CA

The open union busting attack by Trump and Elon Musk on Musk’s X is a flagrant example of who they are. Over 700 Tesla workers were fired in 2017 to prevent them joining the UAW.
The NLRB and US labor laws were flagrantly violated but no action was taken to defend these workers and the union busting continues. That is why Trump and Musk laugh when they talk about illegally firing workers.

At the Fremont Tesla plant, Musk also set up a healthcare company to prevent workers from going to a hospital if they were seriously injured to limit his workers comp costs. This is workers comp fraud which and is a felony but both Governor Brown and Governor Gavin Newsom refused to prosecute this criminal.

During the Covid pandemic Musk despite an order to shelter in place to stop the virus by the Alameda Health Department, Musk refused to close the plant and called on the government to arrest him. Again Newsom refused to enforce the law although small businesses were shutdown. Under these Democrats Musk is about the law.

Black workers have said that working at Tesla was like working in a plantation and they have been terrorized and tormented by this open racist atmosphere. Workers have won millions in lawsuits against the racist Musk for his open racism. Like Trump he has a long record of racist discrimination at the companies they own. He also supports the genocide by the Zionist regime and supported the coup in Bolivia to steal the lithium in the country.

Musk is also union busting in Sweden where Tesla service workers have been striking since October 2023 for a union contract. Like in the US, Musk wants to be a dictator with workers have no worker or human rights on the job.

We need to support the Swedish workers who are fighting for all workers at Tesla plants in the US in Nevada, Texas, Florida and around the world including in Berlin.

It is time to hold Musk and Trump accountable for union busting and systemic racism.

On Labor Day 2024 join with workers at the plant Bust The Union Busters at the Fremont Plant.

Initial Endorsers
Tesla Worker Solidarity Network
Longshore Movement
United Front Committee For.A Labor Party UFCLP
Contact
UFCLP info [at] ufclp.org

Musk's Teslas Workers Felony Workers Comp Fraud At Fremont Plant Unprosecuted
IMPACT, INSULT TO INJURY, WORKED OVER, WORKERS’ RIGHTS
Tesla fired safety official for reporting unsafe conditions, lawsuit says
https://revealnews.org/blog/tesla-fired-safety-official-for-reporting-unsafe-conditions-lawsuit-says/

Robots work on Model S cars in Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif., in 2015. Tesla is among thousands of U.S. companies that once had to submit employee injury records to the federal government. But OSHA suspended that requirement, prompting a lawsuit last week by three interest groups. Credit: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

A former high-level safety official at Tesla Inc. has sued the company for failing to treat injured employees and for misclassifying work injuries to avoid reporting them as required by law.

Carlos Ramirez, a director of environment, health, safety and sustainability at Tesla until June 2017, alleges he was fired in retaliation for reporting unsafe working conditions, such as chemical exposures and fires, and for refusing to go along with what he believed to be illegal practices.

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An April investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting found that Tesla undercounted its workers’ injuries, making the official injury rate look better than it actually was.

The suit also says Ramirez, who is Mexican American, faced harassment based on his race and national origin and that Tesla failed to address it.

Ramirez previously worked as vice president of environmental, health and safety for SolarCity, a solar panel manufacturer Tesla acquired in 2016.

Carlos Ramirez, a former safety official at Tesla Inc., sued the automaker for allegedly firing him in retaliation for reporting unsafe working conditions and safety violations. Credit: LinkedIn
After he came to Tesla, Ramirez and his team audited the company’s internal injury tracking system, the suit says. The 2017 audit “revealed numerous instances of lack of treatment of Tesla employees that suffered workplace injuries, recordkeeping violations, and improper classification of workplace injuries to avoid treating and reporting workplace injuries,” it says.

Tesla shot back Monday, alleging that Ramirez was fired four months after coming from SolarCity because he harassed and bullied other employees.

“Mr. Ramirez was terminated because after an extensive investigation, it was clear that he had engaged over and over again in harassing workplace behavior and used extremely inappropriate language that violated any reasonable standard,” according to a statement provided by a Tesla spokesman.

“We conducted our investigation after we received an onslaught of complaints about Mr. Ramirez’s behavior, with nearly a dozen different employees stating that he engaged in clear bullying, sought to intimidate his colleagues, and repeatedly made inappropriate comments about women,” the statement said. “Bullying and harassment have no place at Tesla.”

Ramirez’s lawsuit says Tesla wrongfully accused him of bullying and “brought unfounded complaints against him.”

Internal records obtained by Reveal showed that the electric car manufacturer labeled significant work injuries as personal medical issues or minor incidents requiring only first aid.

Reveal’s investigation also cited several former members of Tesla’s environment, health and safety team who said Tesla shot down their concerns and prioritized cranking out electric vehicles over the well-being of the people building them. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in a Twitter tirade against the news media, called Reveal’s report “carefully constructed propaganda.”

California’s workplace safety agency launched an investigation after the story, but a weakness in the law means Tesla might not face penalties for undercounting injuries.

Ramirez’s suit says Tesla “made allegedly untrue statements to the state and the public based on incorrect” injury logs and injury rate numbers.

At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting this month, Musk said employee safety “is a super important thing to me because we obviously owe a great debt to the people who are building the car.”

Musk said the company’s injury rate so far this year is 6 percent below the industry average.
“We think being twice as good as the average in the auto industry is a very achievable number and that’s what we’re working hard to achieve,” he said.

Musk has made similar claims in the past that didn’t pan out. When Reveal noted that, a Tesla spokesman said Musk meant that Tesla is working on eventually getting to half the injury rate, not that it would happen this year.

Ramirez’s suit says that he reported unsafe conditions and potential legal violations, including the improper classification of work injuries, at a meeting of Tesla employees in May 2017.

After the meeting, the suit alleges that Seth Woody, Tesla’s top health and safety official at the time, complained that Ramirez made Woody and others “look like fools” and that Ramirez was “not working well with the team” and “should watch his back.”

The lawsuit says Ramirez’s other complaints included concerns about chemical and oil spills, improper storage and disposal practices in the factory, and failures to change work procedures even after multiple injuries.

Ramirez also reported being harassed by two Tesla employees, who allegedly made “derogatory comments and unfounded complaints” against him because of his race and national origin. The lawsuit says Woody told Ramirez that reporting the harassment “would just create problems.” Tesla has faced multiple lawsuits and complaints about racial harassment and discrimination.
Woody referred questions back to the company, writing to Reveal that “Tesla has all of the facts.” Woody left Tesla last fall and the company hired Laurie Shelby as a new vice president for safety, according to chief people officer Gaby Toledano.

Before Ramirez raised his concerns last year, another former Tesla safety professional had complained to Musk’s office directly.

Justine White joined Woody’s team in September 2016 to oversee safety for thousands of workers on Tesla’s general assembly line in Fremont, California. By December that year, she emailed Musk’s chief of staff, writing that safety team leaders were failing to address serious hazards in the factory. White said she didn’t hear back.

In a March 2017 resignation letter she sent directly to Musk, White wrote, “What I discovered was a very fractured, severely understaffed team that had little cohesion or trust.”

In her first week at the factory, White told Woody “that the plant layout was extremely dangerous to pedestrians due to lack of right-of-ways, and demarcations separating pedestrians from forklifts, tuggers and other vehicles.” Woody responded “that Elon didn’t want signs, anything yellow (like caution tape) or to wear safety shoes in the plant” and acknowledged it “was a mess,” White wrote.

White also wrote that she made “repeated safety recommendations” to her supervisor and Woody “regarding informing employees of forklift hazards in a timely manner after an employee’s lower leg was amputated when run-over.”

Frustrated that Woody “did not have a response” to her concerns, White brought up the safety problems, as well as complaints of sexism, in a meeting with a human resources representative.

Afterward, White said Woody called her and other safety team members into a meeting of his own, according to her resignation letter.

Woody, the letter states, “proceeded to yell and hit his fist on the table telling us that if we had any complaints or issues they were NOT to be discussed with anyone but him or we could find ‘another canoe to row in.’ ”

Tesla told Reveal that White’s complaints were investigated and found to be unsubstantiated.

Will Evans can be reached at wevans [at] revealnews.org. Follow him on Twitter: @willCIR.

Lawsuit launched by family of Austin, Texas worker killed at Tesla

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/08/12/tsla-a12.html
Chase Lawrence
11 August 2024

Tesla employees work on a Model S cars in the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., Thursday, May 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The family of a Tesla worker, Victor Joe Gomez Sr., filed a wrongful death lawsuit last week against Tesla and two other corporations in an Austin, Texas court. On August 1, Gomez was “immediately electrocuted” and knocked unconscious at the electric vehicle company’s Gigafactory while inspecting an electrical panel. The shock sent him into cardiac arrest, and he was transported to Dell Seaton Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The family is seeking over $1 million in damages.

Gomez was not a full-time Tesla employee, but a licensed journeyman electrician from Tesla contractor Belcan Services Group. The family is also suing Colorado River Project, LLC, which owns the land that the plant sits on.

They allege Gomez’ death was due to negligence on the part of the three corporations named in the suit. According to court filings, the defendants have not responded to the family’s request to inspect the scene where Gomez was electrocuted, effectively preventing them from gathering evidence. The family has asked that the scene be preserved, and that all attempts to alter, salvage, sell or destroy evidence be prevented through a temporary restraining order while evidence is gathered.

OSHA previously announced an investigation but will not release any more information until its inquiry is complete.

Tesla’s massive Gigafactory, designed to employ as many as 20,000 people, is one of the most dangerous workplaces in the country. Over 1,000 injuries were recorded in 2023 alone, and two deaths have taken place so far this year. One of the few workplaces with more injuries is another Tesla factory in Fremont, California.

Another Belcan contractor, 57-year old Antelmo Ramirez, died in 2021 during the plant’s construction from excessive heat on a 96 degree day.

In the US as a whole, 5,486 workers lost their lives in 2023—15 deaths per day. In 2022, 2.8 million injury and illness cases were reported by private sector employers. Temporary and contract workers are particularly abused, experiencing higher rates of injuries compared to permanent workers.

A co-worker who knew Gomez and worked side by side with him told the WSWS, “Victor Gomez was a very hard worker and always seemed to want to make sure his job was done correctly and on time.”

The co-worker confirmed that the company made no announcements even to plant workers after Gomez’ death. The workers at the plant feel unsafe, he says, and there have been no safety changes since the death.

“I would say that [Tesla should be] simply not pushing people as hard and not making them hurry,” he added. That would be “enough to make workers more aware and also allow them to properly do their jobs, including testing equipment. Most workers are usually always forced to do work ‘ASAP.’”


The co-worker also said that lockout-tagout (LOTO), a basic safety procedure in any workplace dealing with heavy machinery, is loosely enforced. They should “enforce LOTO more and actually have a crew or a system to verify that LOTO is being properly done,” he said.

According to the worker, Tesla does not enforce LOTO for inspections like the one that Gomez was carrying out. This means that there are no checks to ensure that equipment is de-energized, creating situations where stored-up energy can be released unexpectedly. The panel Gomez was inspecting should have been de-energized beforehand, meaning a strictly LOTO policy could have prevented the entire incident. The same worker said, “LOTO is usually required to be used by contractors but it is rarely verified by Tesla employees.”

“There were multiple injuries through my time there. A lot of the time it seemed they were caused by people not being fully aware of their surroundings while trying to quickly do their jobs.”

Gomez was told to inspect the panel “ASAP” by management, which may also have contributed to his death.

The co-worker described grueling conditions in the plant. “I was almost forced to work endless hours—90-plus hours weekly—in order to meet their deadlines, and was expected back to work early morning every day for daily meetings and inspections.”

“I really would hope something changes in that environment, as it already had to cost the life of a great man.”

Tesla’s Resistance to Union Efforts


Published on June 8th, 2024

In 2017, Jose Moran, a Tesla employee, was fired for starting a “Fair Future at Tesla” union campaign at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California. Shortly after, Moran spoke out on Bloomberg Business Week and published an essay highlighting the long hours, low pay, and risks of injuries that employees deal with at the factory. According to CBS in 2018, the NLRB ruled that Tesla’s decision to fire Jose Moran was illegal retaliation.

Several trade unions have unsuccessfully tried to unionize Tesla workers in the United States. According to CBS in 2018, Tesla responded by firing employees involved in all three campaigns including Jose Moran, who worked at Tesla’s Fremont factory. According to Reuters in 2017, the United Auto Workers indicated its interest in unionizing Tesla, spending over $400,000 by 2018 on organizing campaigns, supporting union advocates, and filing complaints with the NLRB. According to Hull & Eidelson in 2024, Tesla’s factory in Fremont alone employs thousands of workers. Employees at the plant have formed a UAW organizing committee, and the union has committed to providing whatever resources are necessary for the campaign there.

Another effort to unionize Tesla occurred in December 2018. According to Reuters, workers at the solar panel Gigafactory in Buffalo announced a unionization drive with the support of United Steel Workers (USW) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Subsequently, the United Steel Workers filed a complaint one month later, alleging that Tesla illegally used surveillance on workers and fired several employees in retaliation. In 2023, workers at the same Gigafactory in Buffalo involved with labeling data for Tesla’s autopilot program, announced a unionization effort with Workers United. A day after the announcement, a complaint was filed with the NLRB against Tesla for firing over 18 employees who participated in the Workers United organizing. Ultimately, the NLRB dismissed the illegal firing complaint but found merits in the other complaints around workplace surveillance.

According to Reuters in 2023, Tesla faced labor law violations in Florida. An administrative judge ruledthat Tesla violated labor laws by suppressing workers at a service center in Orlando, Florida, from discussing pay and bringing up working condition grievances. This was seen as a form of union restriction. Thus, there are currently 17 open unfair labor practice violations pending with the NLRB involving Tesla.

In October 2023, IF Metall, a Swedish labor union, initiated a strike against TM Sweden, a Tesla vehicle service subsidiary, over the company’s refusal to sign a collective bargaining agreement. According to Reuters, the strike, initially affecting mechanics at several workshops solely servicing Tesla vehicles, later expanded to include other facilities servicing various car brands. While workers continued with regular tasks, they refrained from servicing Tesla vehicles during the strike. Other Swedish trade unions later joined out of sympathy. The Swedish Transport Workers Union blocked the loading and unloading of Tesla cars, while dockworkers, electricians, and postal workers halted services to Tesla. Musk has reportedly instructed TM Sweden to sign no collective bargaining agreements.

Musk is currently battling labor forces in Sweden, along with union efforts throughout the United States. Musk has also taken to social media to attack union advocates and organizations. Ultimately, Musk perceives unions as adversaries and not as a collective voice for workers.

According to Bhattacharya in 2024, Tesla, alongside 12 other automakers, were urged by a group of 33 senators to adopt a neutral stance in the ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) unionization efforts at American auto plants. The letter, signed by Democratic senators such as Gary Peters, Ron Wyden, Dick Durbin, Patty Murray, Alex Padilla, Sherrod Brown, Debbie Stabenow, and more, was addressed to Tesla CEO Elon Musk and executives at other auto manufacturers .

The letter, reported by Reuters, stated, “We believe a neutrality agreement is the bare minimum standard manufacturers should meet in respecting workers’ rights, especially as companies receive and benefit from federal funds related to the electric vehicle transition.” The letter expressed worries about alleged unlawful actions by management at various automakers to obstruct unionization. Additionally, the letter referenced National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) conclusions pointing to Tesla’s use of illegal tactics and restrictions to block union organizing efforts, including online harassment, employee interrogations, and retaliatory terminations.

According to Hull & Eidelson in 2024, in response to UAW’s victories at other auto manufacturers late last year, along with the letter from 33 senators, Tesla rolled out “market adjustment” pay increases to many of its factory workers across the United States. Tesla is joining the likes of Hyundai, Volkswagen, and Toyota in raising wages after United Auto Workers secured historic labor agreements at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.

Under President Shawn Fain’s leadership, the UAW seeks recognition of the union by the company or a vote when it secures about over 70 percent of workers at a factory. According to the UAW website, by the end of January 2024, over 10,000 auto workers across 13 non-union companies signed union cards with the UAW, due to the momentum built by the successful strikes.

Additionally, according to Shepardson & Deka (2024), the United Auto Workers (UAW) stated that they would commit an estimated 40 million to organizing non-union automobile workers in the United States over the next 3 years. On top of that, the UAW International Executive Board also voted to establish a new solidarity project to support autoworkers in Mexico fighting for economic justice and improved working conditions. The project will provide resources to Mexican workers and independent unions in Mexico and aims to strengthen cross-border solidarity between U.S. and Mexican workers.

“I’ll stay on strike for months or even years to get this collective agreement”: In Sweden, the fight against Tesla continues

https://www.equaltimes.org/i-ll-stay-on-strike-for-months-or?lang=en

Citizens and trade unions in Europe continue to fight against the methods employed by the American company Tesla. While plans to expand the company’s German production site at Grünheide, near Berlin, are still being contested by local environmental activists, Tesla mechanics in Sweden have been on strike for the last eight month. They have been supported by a large cross-industry boycott.

In Malmö, located in the country’s south, a large banner from the Swedish industrial workers’ union IF Metall hangs on the gates of a Tesla dealership. Its message is clear: “KONFLIKT”, followed by the subtitle: “I Sverige kör vi med kollektivavtal” (“In Sweden, we operate under collective bargaining agreements”).

Across the street, two of the mechanics, wearing safety waistcoats in the IF Metall colours, are picketing against Tesla this May. Janis Kuzma and his colleague [who wished to remain anonymous] were motivated to join the movement, launched by IF Metall, by working conditions and their relationship with their superiors.

“If you have different views, you risk being sacked”

Janis Kuzma was the first to lay down his tools last October. He has now been on strike for eight months. “When we were at full capacity in the summer of 2023, there were 15 of us in the small workshop, we were stepping on each other’s toes,” he explains. According to Janis and his colleague, the tight quarters were exacerbated by stress and poor planning.

“Many of them were often off sick because they were physically and mentally exhausted,” they say. Each mechanic works on five vehicles every day.
If one of the mechanics complained, “the human resources manager told them that Tesla wasn’t for everyone and that they were free to leave”. Martin Berglund, mediator for IF Metall, refers to Tesla’s false familial character: “Tesla’s internal communication is based on the idea that all of its employees are family,” he explains. “But in reality, Tesla is creating a company within a company, where it circumvents rules and regulations on a daily basis”. What shocks Janis is the total lack of dialogue with his superiors. “If you don’t agree with everything, if you have different views, you risk getting sacked,” he adds.

IF Metall recently accused Tesla of illegally terminating an employment contract. In the Umeå workshop, a worker was dismissed earlier than his contract stipulated, after five months instead of six. According to information provided by the IF Metall union, no valid reason was given by the company to justify the dismissal. Despite negotiations, the union was not able to achieve a favourable outcome for the mechanic. Convinced that his dismissal was linked to his participation in the strike, the union decided to lodge a complaint with the Labour Court. So far, he is the only striker against Tesla whose contract has been ter-minated.

Tesla’s refusal to comply with the Swedish system

In Malmö, seven mechanics have deserted the workbench since the start of the dispute. Nationwide, more than thirty employees are standing up to the electric vehicle manufacturer. Their demands have not changed and can be summed up in a single sentence: they want a collective agreement to be signed. This would be an agreement between the company and its employees, via the unions, which sets out working and production conditions. But for the moment, Tesla is showing no signs of budging.

Collective agreements are the be-all and end-all of the Swedish system, whose Labour Code is succinct. The government allows companies and industry-level unions a great deal of freedom to negotiate the terms and conditions of employment (wages, contracts, etc.), working conditions (working hours, safety, etc.) and social benefits (pensions, holidays, etc.).

Collective agreements, though not compulsory, structure the balance of power between employers and employees in both the private and public sectors and guarantee a degree of stability and fairness within the economic sector.
In Sweden, almost 90 per cent of the workforce is covered by a collective agreement, across all sectors.

The conflict between Tesla and its employees lies in the American company’s categorical refusal to sign the agreement. From autumn 2022 to summer 2023, IF Metall attempted to negotiate with Tesla to draw up a collective agreement. However, the company’s management refused to sign an agreement “on principle,” adding that labour rights were not a part of “the company’s concept”. Last November, Tesla CEO Elon Musk openly stated that he disagrees with the idea of unions: “I think the unions naturally try to create negativity in a company and create a sort of lords and peasants situation”.

In its strike notice, IF Metall insists that it is simply a question of "creating a situation of order, while avoiding conflict”. The agreement would provide security for both employees and employers: “The agreement guarantees that no one can go on strike to obtain better conditions than those set out in the agreement”.

A broad solidarity movement, across borders

Outside the Malmö workshop, the two strikers are joined by four other workers who take turns at the picket line. They are not Tesla employees but instead work in sales, accounting and the hospital sector. They have taken their half-day off to relieve the mechanics and ensure continuous presence.

The picket line is a reflection of the country. In solidarity with the workshop mechanics, the dockers, lorry drivers and electricians responsible for maintaining car charging stations have started to boycott Tesla. From the musicians’ union to the postal workers’ union, several trades have joined IF Metall’s fight. “Port workers are still refusing to unload cars chartered by ship,” explains Johan Järvklo, International Secretary of IF Metall. “Tesla is now importing its vehicles by truck. In Vetlanda, unionised Hydro employees have refused to produce parts for Tesla”.

Sympathy for the strikers has even spread beyond Sweden’s borders. Last December, Danish transport union 3F Transportannounced a blockade of the manufacturer’s cars in ports. This was followed by similar actions by Fellesforbundet in Norway and AKT in Finland.
The list continues to grow. At the beginning of May, Unionen, the union organisation for managers and office workers, lent its support to the strike at Tesla’s workshops. As a result, DEKRA International employees will no longer be inspecting products made by the the company. “In the US and Germany, the unions are also fighting for a collective agreement,” explains Johan Järvklo. “It’s really a global struggle and Sweden is currently at the forefront”.

At Tesla’s only European plant in Grünheide, Germany, IF Metall’s German counterpart IG Metall entered the works council for the first time in the latest internal elections at the beginning of 2024. However, the union failed to achieve an absolute majority of seats and is thus legally unable to negotiate a collective agreement, which it wishes to do on wages, among other issues. IG Metall is actively working to recruit new members to change this situation.

Violations of the right to collective bargaining are becoming increasingly widespread. According to the International Trade Union Confederation’s latest annual Global Rights Index report, such violations have been observed in more than half of European countries in 2023 and in 73 per cent of countries worldwide.

All the more reason for IF Metall to see this strike through to the end. “This is about workers’ rights and their bargaining power, which is vital,” adds Mr Järvklo. “We don’t want the next companies to go down the same road and reject collective agreements too”. The union has no intention of giving up after eight months of struggle. By way of comparison, in 1995, Swedish employees at Toys “R” Us fought for three months before securing an agreement.

Strikebreakers called in to hamper the movement

Anders Kjellberg is a sociologist at Lund University and a specialist in trade unions. As he sees it, this strike differs from recent social movements in one significant way: Tesla is refusing all real negotiations and is calling in scabs. “Twenty-three workers from abroad have replaced the strikers,” explains Mr Kjellberg, who describes the strategy as unprecedented.

“In 1995, Toys ‘R’ Us circumvented the strike by using scabs within the factory. Here, Tesla is importing labour from its workshops in Europe”. In Kjellberg’s view, this is a problem for the movement, which he believes is becoming less efficient.
Beyond the fact that they are strike-breakers, Janis and his colleague have other doubts about the new recruits in the Malmö workshop. “To be hired in the workshop now, all you have to do is show a great interest in Tesla,” they argue. “Qualifications are not essential”. A sales manager pulls a car out of the garage for a check-up. It makes a suspicious noise, a rubbing sound from the wheels. Janis approaches the vehicle - he maintains good relations with his colleagues - and quickly notices that the front and rear wheels are inverted. “It’s inexperience and stress that lead to this kind of thing,” he says.

According to the strikers, the workshop is currently running slowly with the new recruits. Inside the garage, a banner hangs showing a hedgehog in a yellow waistcoat with the slogan “Tack, det är bra” (‘thanks, that’s fine’ in Swedish), Tesla’s way of letting them know that it’s doing just fine both without them and without conventions.

There is power in a union

The banner symbolises Tesla’s tone deaf attitude to the conflict. However, IF Metall is not prepared to give up and let the multinational win just yet. The Swedish union is in talks with its counterparts IG Metall in Germany and United Auto Workers (UAW) in the United States about a global strategy to continue the fight.

On 13 June, at Tesla’s annual shareholders’ meeting, a group of investors called on the Board of Directors to adopt a policy of respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining within the company. “This proposal was written in international cooperation with several workers’ unions,” Johan Järvklo says. However, the proposal was rejected by the shareholders.

For Janis, there is no alternative: “I’ll stay on strike for months or even years to get this collective agreement. I’m doing it less for myself than for the next generation, to ensure that they have good working conditions”.

It’s time for a shift change at the picket line. Before Janis heads off to get something to eat, he performs his ritual: he drives past the car dealership at a snail’s pace, windows down and speakers turned all the way up, playing There is Power in a Union, the punk rock anthem written by British singer Billy Bragg in 1986.

This article has been translated from French by Brandon Johnson