U.S. regulators have ordered Tesla Honcho, Elon Musk, to delete a 2018 tweet that said Tesla workers would lose their shares if they voted to unionize, calling the tweet an illegal threat.
According to the National Labor Relations Board, Tesla violated labor laws when he fired a union activist and when Musk he tweeted: “Nothing that prevents the Tesla team at our car plant from voting together. They could do it tmrw if they wanted to. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? ”
On Thursday afternoon, the federal agency ordered the CEO to delete his tweet and return to offer a job to the laid off worker, Richard Ortiz. The company must also compensate Ortiz for the loss of wages, profits and adverse tax consequences that resulted from his dismissal, according to the regulator.
The board also instructed Tesla to issue notices nationwide and hold meetings at its main U.S. car plant in Fremont, California, to inform workers of their protected rights. At the meeting, Musk himself or a “board agent” in Musk’s presence will need to read this notice to workers, along with security guards, managers, and supervisors.
The United Auto Workers, which filed the lawsuit, confirmed the news. Tesla did not return feedback requests.
Ortiz was part of an organizing campaign, “Fair Future at Tesla.” At the time, Tesla said its business should remain union-free. Musk’s public comments about his Twitter account, where he has tens of millions of followers, were seen as threatening.
Tesla considers Musk’s tweets to be the company’s official communications, as revealed in its financial archives. CEO CEO tweets often have a significant impact, which is often controversial and moves markets.
“While we celebrate justice in today’s ruling, it nevertheless highlights substantial flaws in U.S. labor law. Here’s a company that clearly broke the law and yet they’ve passed three years before these workers achieved a minimum of justice, ”said AUAW Vice President and Director of Organization, Cindy Estrada.
The NLRB also ordered Tesla to review a confidentiality agreement granted to employees, which said they were not allowed to speak to the media without written and explicit permission. The NLRB said the agreement should be updated, as U.S. labor law generally “protects employees when they talk to the media about working conditions, labor disputes or other terms and conditions of employment.” occupation “.