Tesla Giga Berlin has won the dispute over the works council elections, despite the opposition of IG Metall. The court ruled that the company could hold elections within the time frame it had previously set.
The Giga Berlin works council elections will take place in mid-March as originally planned, according to Juve. Tesla and the election commission thus won a fast-track trial before the State Labor Court in Berlin-Brandenburg. Three weeks earlier, the labor court in Frankfurt an der Oder urgently stopped the elections at the request of IG Metall. The union argued that the elections were scheduled by the election commission too quickly. According to them, this, among other things, made it difficult for IG Metall to nominate candidates.
The first time, elections to Giga Berlin’s works council took place in February 2022. At that time, only 2,600 employees worked in Grünheide. Tesla currently employs about 12,500 people. Due to the rapidly growing number of employees, a new works council must be elected to ensure that employees are adequately represented. After the elections, the number of works council members will increase from the current 19 to 39.
On February 1, the election commission commissioned by the works council asked workers to submit their lists of candidates by February 15. It sought to ensure that elections could take place between March 18 and 20. In fact, the council began operating two weeks earlier. IG Metall used this as a pretext for a new conflict and took urgent measures against it.
In the ruling, the court said it considered this “not so serious that the election could be declared invalid.” With its decision, the court opens the way for the works council elections, which will take place in March.
