The complaint alleges that Tesla has interfered with lawful efforts by employees at its Fremont, Calif. plant to form a union.
SAN FRANCISCO — The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against Tesla over charges the company engaged in coercion and interference over employees’ union activities at its Fremont, Calif., plant.
The NLRB complaint, filed Thursday, lists several instances in which it said it had determined Tesla attempted to interfere with union creation activities by employees at the company’s Fremont, Calif. car factory. It was first reported by Buzzfeed.
Some workers at the factory have alleged they are forced to work long hours for low pay in dangerous working conditions, with workers subject to long- and short-term injuries.
Telsa has been one of the companies the United Auto Workers has been fighting to organize after several years of stalled efforts.
Those include UAW activity at Nissan plants that have been underway since 1989, a battle with Volkswagen at its plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., that’s been ongoing since 2009 and Tesla’s plant in California, which the union has been working to organize since at least 2013.
Tesla called the filings baseless, calling the actions of the UAW and the tactics it has used to attempt to demonize the company a response to the union’s lack of traction in Fremont and elsewhere.
In a statement, Tesla said the UAW have been fighting it for seven years, using what it claimed were misleading and false communications, visits to employees homes and attempts to discredit Tesla publicly.
It called the allegations entirely without merit.
The National Labor Relations Board is a government agency that enforces U. S. labor laws and works to protect the rights of employees to organize.
A hearing has been scheduled before an administrative law judge of the NLRB on Nov. 14 in Oakland, Calif.
Tesla said it would respond to the allegations as part of the NLRB process.
