analysis
Tesla employees have elected a new works council. Nine lists were up for voting. But the result is interpreted differently – and the dispute over a collective agreement is likely to continue.
“In a short period of time, you ran a fantastic election campaign with a clear and convincing program for better working conditions at Tesla.” Shortly after the provisional election results were announced, the responsible IG Metall district manager Dieter Schulze commented on the performance of the “IG Metall-Tesla Workers GFBB” union list. She received 39.4 percent of the vote.
In the past few days, around 12,500 employees have been called upon to elect their employee representatives at the electric car manufacturer’s factory in Grünheide. According to Tesla, almost 80 percent of the workforce took part in the vote.
Strong criticism from the union
The company’s interpretation of the result is different: almost 60 percent of the votes went to non-union lists, meaning 23 of the 39 seats would be filled by candidates from these lists. Shortly after the first vote count, Tesla factory manager André Thierig wrote on “X”: “The majority of our workforce spoke out against a union works council.”
The different perspectives on today’s election results show how big the gap is between the management of the Grünheider factory, the previous works council and the union. The union expressed strong criticism of working conditions, pay and treatment of employees during the election campaign. This was offset by management’s belief that their own path was better for the company and the workforce.
Previous works council “close to management”?
As with the first works council election in 2022, there was also a dispute this time. The vote was originally supposed to take place in February – too short notice and too little time for the union to draw up lists of candidates. Because: At the beginning of the year, the factory had to close for two weeks. According to Tesla, supply chains were disrupted due to attacks on cargo ships by Houthi rebels. The union was then able to secure an election date in March in court.
Two years ago, Tesla surprised IG Metall with its first works council election before production started. Since, in the union’s opinion, of the almost 2,500 employees at the time, only relatively few from production were entitled to vote, IG Metall assessed the previous works council as rather “close to management”.
IG Metall wants a collective agreement
IG Metall has been in favor of locating the Tesla “Gigafactory” from the start and has since tried to establish itself in the plant in Grünheide as what it sees itself as: representing the interests of employees in the German auto industry.
In the past two years since production began, IG Metall has repeatedly criticized the fact that Tesla salaries are lower on average than at other German car companies, that the workload and the number of work accidents are high.
The union aims to conclude a collective agreement with Tesla and enforce working conditions similar to those of German car manufacturers. This can also be seen from the 10-point program with which the union and its list ran for the works council elections. Longer cycle times and appropriate breaks are required, better accident protection, more freedom of expression and of course a collective agreement. The union’s stance goes against the corporate philosophy of the US electric car manufacturer, which does not allow for too much union influence.
“We focus on ourselves”
And so Tesla is also against collective bargaining at the factory in Grünheide. “We are concentrating on ourselves in order to find solutions for our employees quickly and without unnecessary escalation,” said plant manager André Thierig, explaining his stance to the dpa news agency at the beginning of the year. The company offers other benefits for the workforce, such as free charging of electric cars and free shuttles.
A collective agreement was unnecessary, it was also said at a works meeting with company boss Elon Musk. The previous works council chairwoman Michaela Schmitz referred in one rbb interview shortly before the election on 17 agreements that had been made with the company management over the past two years – even without a collective agreement. These include salary adjustments of 18 percent for the lower income groups, an inflation bonus of 3,000 euros and surcharges for production workers.
Several previous works council members pointed out rbb interview also rejected the criticism from IG Metall. “It is a reality that accidents happen at Tesla,” says works council member Stefan Gierschner: “But what is definitely not true is that people look the other way and try to sweep things under the carpet.”
The new employee representatives are scheduled to start working at the end of March. “We will continue our successful collaboration with the works council,” said a Tesla spokeswoman. IG Metall will probably try to work towards a collective agreement with more influence in the works council. However, management would have to play along for this, and that is currently not expected.