NLRB Slams Tesla's Anti-Worker Policy

[Turkeytop]

Tesla preventing employees from wearing union shirts was ‘unlawful’, says U.S labour board

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said on Monday it was unlawful for Tesla Inc to prohibit employees from wearing shirts bearing union insignia, ruling in a 2017 dispute between the electric car maker and the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union.

NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran said the decision reaffirms “any attempt to restrict the wearing of union clothing or insignia is presumptively unlawful and – consistent with Supreme Court precedent – an employer has a heightened burden to justify attempts to limit this important right.”

In a 3-2 decision, the NLRB said that when companies interfere with employees’ rights to display union insignia the employer “has the burden to establish special circumstances” and the majority “found that Tesla failed to establish special circumstances in this case.”

Tesla and the UAW did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In addition to ruling on the Tesla case, the NLRB also reversed a 2019 decision by the agency involving Walmart Inc, saying the earlier decision “ignored decades of board precedent.”

The NLRB said some Tesla employees assembling electric vehicles at its Fremont, California, plant wore shirts with union logos during a 2017 UAW union organizing campaign. At that time, the UAW was seeking to represent workers at Tesla’s facility in Fremont, who are not unionized.

Tesla’s “team-wear” policy required employees to wear black shirts imprinted with the Tesla logo or their own black T-shirts without logo. The NLRB found that this implicitly prohibited employees from substituting any shirt with a logo or emblem, including a shirt bearing union insignia.

The NLRB said that before 2017 Tesla production employees regularly wore shirts that were not black or had logos and emblems unrelated to Tesla. On Monday, it ordered Tesla to rescind its policy prohibiting employees from wearing black union shirts.

This is not the first clash between Tesla and the NLRB.

In 2021, the NLRB said that a 2018 tweet by CEO Elon Musk, in which he threatened that Tesla employees who formed a union would lose their stock options, was illegal and should be deleted.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busines ... nyLar3s6x6

[km1125]

Not sure why the union should get special treatment. If the company rules are "no logos other than the company logo", then the employees should have to comply. If they're allowed to wear any other logos, then I would think a union logo could be worn.

[Turkeytop]

Tesla implemented the black shirt policy as a response to employees wearing the Union logo. Prior to that, there had been no rule.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

Fuck Tesla.

[Deleted User 15835]

Pretty much all I wear are black shirts LOL. I can see why work places don't want people wearing stuff that's political or controversial, it's a distraction and causes issues in the workplace. So I see why Tesla did that. I'm not taking a for or against side in terms of Elon Musk, but it's his company and if someone doesn't like how he wants things, then don't buy a Tesla.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

I could care less about the shirts. Every workplace has a right to bargain though, and Tesla has illegally tried to thwart any right to bargain. It's union busting, and it needs to stop. The right to organize is a key worker's right.

[Turkeytop]

I could care less about the shirts. Every workplace has a right to bargain though, and Tesla has illegally tried to thwart any right to bargain. It's union busting, and it needs to stop. The right to organize is a key worker's right.

The UN has declared the right to bargain collectively a Human Right.

[MWmetalhead]

Tesla cars are overpriced garbage, and they treat their customers like shit.

[Matt]

I could care less about the shirts. Every workplace has a right to bargain though, and Tesla has illegally tried to thwart any right to bargain. It's union busting, and it needs to stop. The right to organize is a key worker's right.

The UN has declared the right to bargain collectively a Human Right.

The UN is a fucking joke.

[TC Talks]

I could care less about the shirts. Every workplace has a right to bargain though, and Tesla has illegally tried to thwart any right to bargain. It's union busting, and it needs to stop. The right to organize is a key worker's right.

The UN has declared the right to bargain collectively a Human Right.

The UN is a fucking joke.

Not a fan of human rights?

[Turkeytop]

The UN is a fucking joke.

Thanks for sharing that, Matt. We can always count on you for thoughtful and insightful analysis of these complex issues.

[km1125]

You should certainly have the right to collectively bargain, but do it on your own time and with your own resources and not those owned or managed by the company, unless they are OK with you doing so.

The company shouldn't be forced to include union advocation or 'advertisement' in any of the acceptable clothing on their premises.

Unions are just largely a hidden tax on everyone and profit center for a handful of folks. SOMETIMES they are needed or desired but largely all they do is protect non-productive (or less effective) folks and are a drag on progress.

Employees should be encouraged to improve their skills and knowledge and shop those around to any available sources so that the employee can maximize their piece of the big pie. THAT is also how you raise "minimum wage".

[TC Talks]

Unfortunately that's not what the law says.

[Turkeytop]

fortunately that's not what the law says.

Fixed it

[Deleted User 15846]

The UN is a fucking joke.

Thanks for sharing that, Matt. We can always count on you for thoughtful and insightful analysis of these complex issues.

Post of the day! bravo.