{"id":3712,"date":"2023-06-27T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniontrack.com\/blog\/?p=3712"},"modified":"2023-06-26T15:13:48","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T15:13:48","slug":"union-drive-tesla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniontrack.com\/blog\/union-drive-tesla","title":{"rendered":"Labor Update: The Union Drive at Tesla\u2019s Buffalo Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ken Green
CEO & Founder
UnionTrack<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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During a decade that has seen workers unionize for the first time in traditionally nonunion industries and companies like Google, Amazon, and Starbucks, another first is on the horizon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 15, 2023, workers at a Buffalo, New York, Tesla facility (Gigafactory 2) announced their intention to unionize. If successful, it would be the first Tesla location to organize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tesla Workers Stand Up for Their Rights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 800 workers in the Tesla Autopilot division at the Buffalo facility have formed Tesla Workers United<\/a>, which is seeking to organize with Rochester Regional Joint Board of Workers United (RRJB).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe unionizing will give us a voice in our workplace that we feel has been ignored to this point,\u201d Tesla Workers United<\/a> said in a February 2023 press release. \u201cWe are only asking for a seat in the car that we helped build.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizers cite excessive productivity monitoring, poor pay, and inflexible workplace policies as the key issues they seek to address. And they believe they will have the numbers to win a union election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBased on the way people talked in the last several months, I don\u2019t think drumming up support will be all that difficult, honestly,\u201d says worker and organizer Nick Piazza<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Image<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Uphill Battle for Tesla Workers United<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What will be difficult: overcoming the union-busting campaign the company has begun to mount. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is vocally anti-union. Expect Tesla management to put the pressure on workers to reject the union, if it even gets to a vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous Organizing Efforts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thus far, Tesla workers have tried and failed twice to bring a unionization effort to the point of the NLRB election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musk \u201chas been overtly contemptuous of unions,\u201d Riley Guti\u00e9rrez McDermid<\/a> reported for TheStreet in 2022. The company\u2019s prior activity, McDermid reported, includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n