Tesla’s German factory in Gruenheide near Berlin – Copyright US NAVY\/US CENTRAL COMMAND\/AFP –<\/p>\n
Clement KASSER<\/p>\n
An industrial relations showdown looms this week as Germany\u2019s powerful IG Metall union is seeking to gain control of the works council at US billionaire Elon Musk\u2019s Tesla plant outside Berlin.<\/p>\n
The works council, an elected body of employees that negotiates pay deals and working hours with management, has long been an unshakeable component of German corporate life, especially in the auto sector.<\/p>\n
But at Tesla\u2019s \u201cGigafactory\u201d, it has been a persistent bugbear for the management since the plant opened in 2022 \u2014 with this week\u2019s Monday-to-Wednesday ballot marking a high point in tensions.<\/p>\n
In one corner, there is Musk, the world\u2019s richest man and a staunch advocate of libertarian ideals.<\/p>\n
In the other, there is a century\u2011old metal workers\u2019 union defending Germany\u2019s tradition of workers\u2019 rights and accusing the US carmaker of engaging in \u201cunion busting\u201d.<\/p>\n
Outside the factory, which employs around 10,000 people in rural Gruenheide in Brandenburg state, an IG Metall banner calling for \u201cchange\u201d hangs next to a giant mural celebrating labour solidarity.<\/p>\n
IG Metall has accused the carmaker of poor working conditions and covert redundancies, all enabled by the lack of a collective agreement to protect workers \u2014 almost unheard\u2011of in Germany\u2019s automotive industry.<\/p>\n
The union won the previous elections in 2024 with 39 percent of the vote. But then four non\u2011union lists seen as more accommodating toward management joined forces to secure a majority.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018A real exception\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
Tesla \u201cis a real exception\u201d in Germany given the absence of a union majority in the works council, said Ernesto Klengel of the Hans-Boeckler Foundation, which has close ties to the trade unions.<\/p>\n
He charged that at Tesla \u201cthe management has so far not placed any value on constructive cooperation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Although it is not unusual for various parties to seek to influence in works council elections, this \u201chighly confrontational approach\u201d is unprecedented, he said.<\/p>\n
For Tesla, the dispute is another headache in Europe, where sales have been hit amid strong Chinese competition.<\/p>\n
In Germany there has also been a backlash against the e-car pioneer after Musk strongly supported the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.<\/p>\n
A number of Tesla staff spoke to AFP outside the plant, all asking not to be named given the sensitivity of the labour issues at play.<\/p>\n
One of them, a logistics worker from Nigeria, said he was one of around 100 candidates in the plant for IG Metall.<\/p>\n
He said he had been working at Tesla for three years and charged that management \u201cdoes not listen to employees\u201d, whereas \u201cIG Metall is working hard to represent our interests\u201d.<\/p>\n
He also complained that workers from the African community did worse \u201cin the allocation of promotions and certain benefits\u201d and that \u201cvery few\u201d African employees were team leaders at the plant.<\/p>\n
Another employee, who asked to be called Vikram, said \u201cmany colleagues complain about harassment and other problems because they take breaks\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tesla did not respond to a request from AFP for comment on the allegations.<\/p>\n
Another worker, who identified himself as Ali, 31, said he was very satisfied at Tesla, particularly with his salary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey give us everything \u2014 shares, good facilities,\u201d the body shop worker told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Musk threat \u2013<\/p>\n
Andre Thierig, the director of the site, has told local media that Tesla pays its employees better than its competitors do and has argued that collective agreements are destroying German industry.<\/p>\n
In early February, Thierig accused a member of IG Metall of illegally recording a works council meeting.<\/p>\n
The union promptly declared that it was preparing legal action against what it called \u201cobstruction of union activity\u201d.<\/p>\n
Musk himself has weighed in on the dispute, warning that there will be no further investment in the factory if IG Metall becomes the majority union.<\/p>\n
Jan Otto, regional manager of IG Metall in eastern Germany, retorted that the US billionaire should \u201caccept the rules of the game of co-determination and democracy in German companies\u201d.<\/p>\n
Otto has called on the government of Brandenburg to step in.<\/p>\n
Contacted by AFP, the regional economy ministry said it \u201cencourages companies in Brandenburg, including Tesla, to conclude collective agreements\u201d and offer \u201cattractive working conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tesla’s German factory in Gruenheide near Berlin – Copyright US NAVY\/US CENTRAL COMMAND\/AFP – Clement KASSER An industrial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[99],"tags":[112,190,18256,5286],"class_list":["post-31368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-berlin","tag-germany","tag-labour","tag-tesla"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}