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IG Metall\u2019s vote share at Tesla\u2019s Gigafactory Berlin decreased from 39.4% to just 31.1% in the works council election that concluded today, a devastating 8-percentage-point drop that came after weeks of threats, police involvement, and a direct warning from Elon Musk that expansion would stop if the union gained influence.<\/p>\n
The management-aligned \u201cGiga United\u201d list won 40.4% of the vote, securing a commanding lead over the union and ensuring that Germany\u2019s only non-union auto plant stays that way.<\/p>\n
The results<\/p>\n
Roughly 10,700 workers at Tesla\u2019s Gr\u00fcnheide plant voted over three days from March 2\u20134, with 87% turnout \u2014 down 6 percentage points from the 2024 election. The council was reduced from 39 seats to 37, reflecting the factory\u2019s shrinking workforce.<\/p>\n
IG Metall needed 19 of those 37 seats to take majority control. They didn\u2019t come close. The union\u2019s 31.1% vote share represents a sharp retreat from the 39.4% it earned in 2024, when it secured 16 of 39 seats and became the council\u2019s largest faction.<\/p>\n
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Giga United, the list led by incumbent works council chair Michaela Schmitz, took 40.4%. A Polish workers\u2019 initiative, reflecting the roughly 2,000 Polish employees, captured 8.3%. The remaining votes were split among eight other slates, with 550 total candidates running for 37 positions.<\/p>\n
What happened in the lead-up<\/p>\n
The weeks before this election were unlike anything seen at a German auto plant in recent memory. Tesla\u2019s management launched a coordinated campaign against IG Metall that escalated in both intensity and tactics.<\/p>\n
In early February, Tesla called police on an IG Metall representative<\/a> at a works council meeting, accusing the union member of secretly recording the session. Police seized his laptop. IG Metall called Tesla\u2019s account \u201ca brazen and calculated lie\u201d and filed defamation charges against plant manager Andr\u00e9 Thierig.<\/p>\n The union accused Tesla of fostering a \u201ctoxic\u201d working environment<\/a> at the plant, citing overworked employees, pressure on sick workers to return, and managers visiting workers\u2019 homes to \u201cappeal to their work ethic.\u201d<\/p>\n Then came the biggest weapon: Elon Musk sent a pre-recorded video to all 10,700 workers<\/a> warning that the plant\u2019s expansion, including potential Cybercab and Semi production, would not happen if IG Metall gained influence. \u201cWe will not close the factory, but realistically we will also not expand,\u201d Musk said. Plant manager Thierig delivered the message alongside Musk from Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n Tesla also held an anti-union concert for employees in December and distributed buttons reading \u201cGiga JA \u2013 Gewerkschaft NEIN\u201d (Giga YES \u2013 Union NO).<\/p>\n The bigger picture<\/p>\n The backdrop to all of this is a factory in distress. Tesla has quietly cut roughly 1,700 jobs at Giga Berlin over the past year, reducing headcount from 12,415 to 10,703, a 14% reduction. The plant is capable of producing over 375,000 Model Ys per year but is reportedly running at about 40% capacity.<\/p>\n Tesla\u2019s European sales collapsed 28% in 2025, and German registrations specifically plunged 48% to just 19,390 units. Meanwhile, BYD surged over 1,000% in Germany in January 2026, underscoring the competitive pressure Tesla faces in Europe.<\/p>\n That context matters because it makes Musk\u2019s expansion threat potent even beyond its face value. Workers at a plant that has already shed 1,700 jobs and is running far below capacity have every reason to fear that rocking the boat could cost them more. When the CEO tells you that your factory\u2019s future depends on rejecting the union, and you\u2019ve watched your colleague count shrink by 14% in a year, the calculus changes.<\/p>\n Electrek\u2019s Take<\/p>\n Let\u2019s call this what it is: Tesla successfully scared Giga Berlin workers away from the union.<\/p>\n IG Metall didn\u2019t lose this election because workers suddenly became satisfied with their conditions. The union\u2019s own platform, longer cycle times, adequate breaks, protections for temporary workers, elimination of illness-related pay deductions, addresses real grievances that multiple reports have documented. Tesla ranked dead last among 30 companies in a German reputation study, and the union\u2019s complaints about a \u201ctoxic\u201d work environment were backed by specific, documented practices, such as managers visiting sick workers at home.<\/p>\n What changed between 2024 and 2026 wasn\u2019t the working conditions, it was the fear of losing their jobs. Calling police on a union rep, filing criminal complaints, having the CEO personally threaten the factory\u2019s future, distributing anti-union buttons, hosting anti-union concerts, this is a campaign designed to make workers fear the consequences of voting for the union more than they fear the status quo.<\/p>\n And it worked. The 8-percentage-point drop in IG Metall\u2019s vote share, combined with a 6-point decline in turnout, tells the story clearly. Some workers switched sides. Others simply stayed home.<\/p>\n The irony is that Giga Berlin\u2019s problems, overcapacity, collapsing European sales, job cuts, have nothing to do with IG Metall. They\u2019re the result of Tesla\u2019s broader product and brand challenges in Europe, where Elon Musk\u2019s political activities have turned consumers away in droves. A union didn\u2019t cause Tesla\u2019s German registrations to drop 48%. But workers are now paying for those failures twice: once through layoffs, and again through the erosion of their ability to organize for better conditions.<\/p>\n
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