An employee in Fremont confirmed that the 2024 pay rate information was distributed at the site and that the company recently implemented increases. The person asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
CNBC reported last month that Tesla workers at the company's battery plant in Sparks, Nevada, learned their hourly rates would increase in January. The raises for hourly workers in Nevada represented an increase of about 10% depending on the position and did not take into account the bonuses that some employees could earn.
The new wage increases follow an announcement by the United Auto Workers that it will seek to establish at least one Tesla plant in Detroit following major successes at the three major automakers. The UAW distributes an authorization card online and collects names and signatures from Tesla workers to gauge their interest in forming a union.
Led by Shawn Fain, the UAW is seeking corporate recognition of the union or a vote if it secures about 70% of workers in a factory.
“Tesla is now following in the footsteps of Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen and almost every other auto company by raising wages following our historic Big Three victory, while non-union auto workers everywhere are starting to stand up for themselves. Fain said in a statement emailed to CNBC by a spokesperson. “As great as these raises are, they still fall far short of what companies can afford and what autoworkers are worth.”
The union did not say how many Tesla workers have signed the authorization card so far.
Tesla's director of people operations and programs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has long been at odds with unions. At the New York Times DealBook Summit 2023 in November, he said, “I don't agree with the idea of unions,” claiming they would create “a kind of masters-and-peasants thing.”
The National Labor Relations Board has found that Tesla has violated federal labor laws on more than one occasion. For example, in 2018, Musk tweeted that workers at Tesla's Fremont factory would lose stock options if they unionized. A federal appeals court ruled that his tweet constituted an unlawful threat.
President Joe Biden previously said he supports efforts to organize workers at workplaces that don't yet recognize unions. This group includes Tesla and Toyota.
Tesla has also faced challenges with unions in Europe, including strikes and boycotts involving service workers last year.
The New York Times reported that at least 15 unions joined IF Metall's strikes to “force Tesla to negotiate a collective agreement to set wages and benefits that meet industry-wide standards in Sweden.” The Associated Press reported that major pension funds in Scandinavia have asked Tesla to rethink its approach to working with unions and collective bargaining agreements.
Tesla shares closed down 2.9% on Thursday after reports of U.S. wage increases and news that the automaker would halt production in Germany for two weeks due to supply chain issues related to attacks in the Red Sea .
REGARD: Tesla is “monstrously” overvalued