Tesla and trade unions

Tesla, Inc., an American electric car and solar panel manufacturer, has more than 140,000 workers employed across its global operations as of January 2024, almost none of whom are unionized. Despite allegations of high injury rates, long hours, and below-industry pay, efforts to unionize the workforce have been largely unsuccessful. Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, has commented negatively on trade unions in relation to the company. Tesla has been involved in labor disputes in the United States, Germany, and Sweden, including an ongoing strike in Sweden. Tesla is the only major American automaker whose workforce is not represented by a union in the United States. None of the union drives in Tesla Fremont Factory and Gigafactory New York have been successful. In late 2023, United Auto Workers announced renewed unionization efforts. According to automotive union IG Metall, in Germany, Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg's non-union status and lower wages compared to industry standards has weakened the structural power of Metall. Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg and Tesla Automation have works councils, without union collective agreement coverage. Tesla Automation signed a remuneration-related works agreement with its works council, while refusing to sign a comparable collective agreement with IG Metall. In Sweden, mechanics from TM Sweden, a Tesla vehicle service subsidiary, and affiliated with IF Metall have been on strike since October 2023, which expanded when other Swedish, Danish and Norwegian unions joined by initiating their own solidarity strikes. This is the longest strike in Sweden since the 1938 Saltsjöbaden Agreement and still ongoing as of May 2025.