Tesla Inc. is facing a looming crisis after an employee recently demanded that the company be unionized with United Auto Workers, noting how workers were forced to work under poor conditions.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has fired back with a claim that Jose Moran, the employee who stepped forward, has been paid by UAW, and the effort itself is morally outrageous.
UAW's Role
The statement was released to Gizmodo via a series of direct messages at Twitter.
"Our understanding is that this guy was paid by the UAW to join Tesla and agitate for a union," Musk said. "Frankly, I find this attack to be morally outrageous. Tesla is the last car company left in California, because costs are so high."
It seems that Tesla's strategy to counter the recent setback is to paint UAW as the antagonist in the narrative. A spokesperson has promptly reinforced this by releasing another statement on the heels of Musk's statement.
In a story by Ars Technica, said representative claimed that Moran's demand "is not the first time we have been the target of a professional union organizing effort such as this."
Poor Working Condition At Tesla
Moran himself wrote an article for Medium that outlined Tesla's purported adverse working environment. Among the enumerated conditions include the excessive mandatory overtime especially to meet production targets and the risk that employees are exposed to when doing manual labor.
"Machinery is often not ergonomically compatible with our bodies," Moran wrote. "There is too much twisting and turning and extra physical movement to do jobs that could be simplified if workers' input were welcomed."
As a result, employees are allegedly sustaining injuries, and those affected are said to have been muzzled by fear of being terminated. Moran also highlighted the fact that workers are being paid less than the national hourly standard.
Tesla employees take home $17 to $21 per hour in comparison with the $25.58 per hour average for U.S. autoworkers.
Demand For Tesla Union Is Morally Outrageous
Musk's reference to the unionization effort against Tesla as morally outrageous has not been elaborated in detail. His statement, however, could indicate how a unionized Tesla could lead to its eventual closure.
To support this, Musk has accused UAW of killing the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., further stressing that Tesla is the last automaker staying afloat in California. This is not unlike saying unionization will rack up further cost, eroding Tesla's viability in the long run.
Save for the bribery accusation, the threat of job loss is perhaps the part where the moral outrage also comes in. Hopefully, it does not refer to the production delay that can have owners who have already paid suffering a bit of inconvenience.
