Tesla has written a blog to set the record straight about the company allegedly terminating employees in response to a union campaign in Buffalo.
According to Tesla the employees in question were not fired due to union activity but were laid off due to poor performance as part of periodic performance reviews.
The most recent performance cycle was between July 2022 through December 2022, where 4 per cent of the Autopilot labelling team was identified by the company as low performers. The impacted employees were identified on February 3 to be let go by the company on February 13.
After the layoffs, Tesla managers learned that one of the 27 impacted employees was officially identified as part of the union campaign. However, those organizing activities were ten days after the February 3 date.
The blog post response comes after reports emerged this morning featuring the Workers United filing to the National Labor Relations Board complaining about the firings. Per the filing, 37 workers allege they were let go “in retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity”.
The union is seeking a court order to force Tesla to reinstate the workers with back pay, but it is unclear if that effort will be successful.
You can check out the full blog here.
