Musk broke the law with anti-union tweet, judge rules

Enlarge / Elon Musk. (credit: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for E3/Entertainment Software Association)

Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, violated federal labor laws when it tried to hamper union organizing at its Fremont factory, a federal administrative law judge in California ruled on Friday.

Among other things, Tesla security guards repeatedly ordered union organizers to stop leafletting in Tesla’s parking lots and fired one union organizer for allegedly lying during a company investigation. Elon Musk was also dinged for a tweet that suggested employees would no longer receive stock options if they voted to form a union.

For years, Tesla employees affiliated with the United Auto Workers have been trying to convince their fellow Tesla workers to form a union. UAW members in Tesla’s workforce have worn union T-shirts, hats, and pins to work. They have also handed out flyers promoting the union in the parking lots around Tesla’s Fremont factory.