Tesla has filed a criminal complaint against an external union representative following an incident at Giga Berlin, escalating tensions between the automaker and Germany’s IG Metall trade union just weeks before key works council elections.
The situation unfolded at Tesla’s facility on Tuesday, where a union representative was accused of secretly recording a confidential internal meeting. The alleged incident prompted Tesla to call local police, who detained the individual and seized potential evidence as part of an ongoing investigation.
Authorities have confirmed they opened a case after Tesla filed formal charges. Police seized a laptop and said the next steps would be determined in coordination with public prosecutors.
Andre Thierig, Managing Director of Tesla’s German factory, addressed the situation, describing the event as unprecedented.
“What has happened today at Giga Berlin is truly beyond words! An external union representative from IG Metall attended a works council meeting. For unknown reasons he recorded the internal meeting and was caught in action! We obviously called police and filed a criminal complaint!”, Thierig wrote on X.
However, IG Metall has strongly denied Tesla’s claims and accused the company of misrepresenting the situation. In a statement on the ‘IG Metall – Tesla Workers GFBB’ Facebook page, the union’s works council group rejected the allegations outright, calling Tesla’s version of events false.
“This assertion is both a malicious and a calculated lie,” the group said, adding that the union representative was not given an opportunity to respond before security and police intervened. (via DW)
In a separate statement, IG Metall district head Jan Otto referred to Tesla’s leadership as an “authoritarian regime,” calling the accusation completely false.
“To influence elections with fictitious accusations reminds us of the actions of authoritarian regime,” he said. “Since the last works council election, we as IG Metall – Tesla workers invite one of our union secretaries to each meeting of the works council. At today’s working council meeting, suddenly a working council of the employer’s faction claimed that our colleague from IG Metall would record the meeting with his laptop.”
The dispute is the latest development in an ongoing feud between Tesla and IG Metall, Germany’s largest metalworkers’ union, which has long pushed for formal collective bargaining agreements and standardized pay scales at the facility. While IG Metall has representation on Tesla’s works council, Giga Berlin is not officially unionized under a collective agreement.
The timing of the incident comes just weeks before works council elections, scheduled to take place between March 2 and March 4, where employee representation within the factory will be decided.
