Tesla staff at Gigafactory Berlin will go to the voting booth next week to select their new work council for the next two years.
The 39-seat work council deals with broad issues at the facility, including pay and working conditions.
The current council has done relatively well in improving working conditions at Gigafactory Berlin over the last two years. Their achievements include:
- Up to 18% pay increases at the facility
- Improvements in occupational health and safety
- Other perks, such as
- Free bus rides
- Bike Sharing
Many current members of the works council will be seeking re-election, but one group is looking to gain a majority in this latest election.
IG Metall, Germany’s largest union, aims to gain a majority on the works council to gain more significant influence at the facility. In fact, IG Metall is putting forward 106 candidates for the election.
Not all are welcoming the attempted takeover by IG Metall. In a statement to Reuters, the current head of the worker’s council, Michaela Schmitz, noted:
All of the aforementioned successes were achieved without the union or a collective bargaining agreement, quickly, easily and customised to Giga Berlin—[There is no need for] external influences.
We shall see what happens at the election, which will be held from March 18-20. For its sake, Tesla has not commented on the upcoming election or IG Metall’s increased interest.
