At Tesla there is a fire in the roof – employees blame the Musk group for this

The Brandenburg government is happy to roll out the red carpet for the Musk group for jobs at Tesla. But after persistent criticism from employees and unions, critical voices are heard from government circles for the first time. Even Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD), who is very benevolent towards Tesla, has called on the American electric car manufacturer to improve working conditions.

Trade union IG Metall previously made serious accusations against the Tesla factory in Grünheide near Berlin: it concerns cold factory buildings, stress and strange confidentiality clauses in the employment contract. Employees reported to the union that they were dissatisfied with the stressful working hours, frequent overtime at weekends, a very high workload and generally understaffed.

Bad mood, leaving a lot

The renowned technology magazine “Wired” already reported in December about “total chaos” at the German Tesla factory. There is great dissatisfaction among the staff, even experienced employees are leaving the company.

There are numerous cases of illness and Tesla often pays lower wages than the German car manufacturers. Tesla is constantly losing staff as a result, which depresses the mood. “Some people are on sick leave longer than they actually worked,” Wired quoted one employee as saying.

This is now calling on politicians to take action, which has long held back criticism as Tesla generated thousands of jobs in East Germany.

“Exploitation” in the German Tesla factory?

Shortly before Christmas, the Tagesspiegel wrote about alleged “chaotic conditions” within the factory. This is especially true in the foundry, where last year, unlike the rest of the factory, work was already done in three shifts. The paper quoted an employee representative, who remained anonymous, as reporting “harsh exploitation” and “compulsory obligations” as many colleagues had dropped out.

Since January 8, 2023, the entire factory has been running in three shifts, i.e. 24 hours a day, the German technology portal Golem recently reported. Tesla is desperately looking for employees, also because the fluctuation is large due to the poor working conditions. A “Tesla-related insider” confirmed the departures for the “Tagesspiegel”, which, however, was within the usual range given the numerous new hires. Not everyone can handle the demands and the usual performance pressures at Tesla.

In contrast, some employees blame “numbers-driven hiring targets” for the woes. “People in HR want to meet their hiring goals, so they’ll do anything they can to hire people, but they don’t care about keeping those employees,” allegations from employees published by Wired.

One employee said that when he was hired, he was told to “work weekends and nights depending on the project.” He saw this as occasional night and weekend work. But shortly before he took office, he and others were given new job descriptions without warning, requiring them to work morning, night, and weekend shifts. “I have a young son and it was hard for us to keep afloat,” says the employee, who left the company in September. Tesla has shown no understanding for his complaint.

Bad pay, weak union

According to IG Metall, Tesla paid almost 20 percent less than comparable companies in Germany by 2022, depending on the position. After the union threatened legal action, Tesla increased salaries at a flat rate of six percent. Even with this increase, Tesla remains well below industry standard wage levels, according to IG Metall.

Regarding the union’s criticism of Tesla, Commerce Secretary Steinbach said only companies can retain enough skilled workers who offer attractive working conditions in the long run. Given the bottlenecks in skilled labor and labor in Brandenburg, this also applies to Tesla. “In addition, employees can turn to the works council in case of problems or concerns,” says Steinbach to the “Handelsblatt”.

Musk does not have to be afraid of the works council yet

However, the IG Metall trade union has so far had little to say about the works council of the so-called Gigafactory. Instead, an employer-friendly list of representatives called Gigavoice controls the majority on the works council. That could change in 2024 at the earliest, provided IG Metall manages to win the majority of seats in the next works council election.

According to IG Metall, workers are currently questioning whether they should talk to the union about their employment contracts. Because they had to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the employment contract, which is repeatedly pointed out in day-to-day business. That the question is being seriously asked whether one can speak to the union is “unknown to other companies in this form and with such frequency”, says IG Metall.

In addition, many employees are concerned that they may soon be subject to scrutiny by a security researcher. Tesla recently advertised a job opening for an internal security researcher with intelligence capabilities. This is to prevent data leaks and theft of intellectual property or to act against whistleblowers who inform the media about abuses.

Tesla has still not arrived in Europe with its internal policies, CDU politician Bäumler told the “Handelsblatt”. “The secrecy rules at this car manufacturer are reminiscent of a cult.”

IG Metall complains that there is no management culture at Tesla that fosters open debate about employee concerns. The American group also shows no willingness to enter into dialogue with the unions.

SPD politician Cansel Kiziltepe criticized Tesla as the only car manufacturer in Germany without a collective bargaining agreement. “We can now see where that leads: overload, insecurity and espionage by the management.”

According to Handelsblatt, Tesla has not commented on the allegations.

The company currently employs around 8,500 people at its Grünheide plant. Local labor market experts told Wired that Elon Musk was unlikely to find the 12,000 workers really needed in times of skills shortages. In the unionized German auto industry, the American group is considered an unattractive employer.

Despite the staff shortage, Tesla is expanding its capacity in Germany. Last December, 3,000 Model Ys were produced in Grünheide for the first time in one week. However, Tesla originally wanted to produce at least 5,000 electric cars per week by the end of 2022.

Tesla is already planning to expand its Gigafactory. Environmentalists warn against this because part of the area is in a water protection zone. Elon Musk should keep Germany busy for a long time to come.

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