Tesla Reportedly Fires Dozens Of Workers After Autopilot Union Campaign

Tesla Inc TSLA has reportedly fired dozens of workers at its plant in Buffalo, New York just a day after workers at the site took steps to unionize.

What Happened: The Union Workers United accused the Elon Musk-led company of firing the employees “in retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity,” reported Bloomberg, citing a complaint by the organizers.

The union urged the U.S. National Labor Relations Board to approach a federal court for an injunction to “prevent irreparable destruction of employee rights resulting from Tesla’s unlawful conduct,” according to the report.

This is “designed to terrify everyone about potential consequences of them organizing, as well as to attempt to cull the herd,” said Jaz Brisack, an organizer of the Workers United, reported Bloomberg.

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Why It Matters: On Tuesday, workers at the Buffalo facility distributed leaflets to employees which contained a link to a website where they could sign union cards, according to Bloomberg.

Tesla’s Buffalo plant reportedly has more than 800 Autopilot analysts — non-engineering roles that help in the development of Tesla’s automated driving capabilities.

Workers want more workplace decision-making and want to stem monitoring, metrics, and production-related efforts which they say harm their health, according to the report.

Last year, Starbucks Corporation SBUX workers in Buffalo became the first employees employed by the chain to unionize. That effort was led by Starbucks Workers United — an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. 

Price Action: On Wednesday, Tesla shares closed 2.4% higher at $214.24 in the regular session and gained 0.8% in the after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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