Tesla terminates works council: IG Metall speaks of aggressive action!

Tesla terminates works council: IG Metall speaks of aggressive action!

A sensational incident occurred at Tesla in Grünheide, where the electric car manufacturer terminated a unionized works council member without notice at the beginning of October. This decision is all the more explosive because the factory's works council, which consists of 39 members, approved the termination. IG Metall, which with 16 members is the largest faction on the works council, is now calling for this termination to be revoked and has announced that it will take legal action.

The background to this termination is linked to a dispute within the works council. According to reports, a conflict arose when the union member in question was called back to the factory after a night shift because a meeting was scheduled at short notice. This meeting led to verbal disputes in which the short-term appointment procedure was questioned and the member expressed the idea of ​​taking legal action against the dismissal. Despite an apology from the employee, a majority in parliamentary group 23 of the works council voted for the termination.

The background of the conflicts

As IG Metall emphasizes, it sees the dismissal without notice as a pattern of aggressive action by Tesla against employees who are campaigning for better working conditions. In connection with a survey on workload at the Grünheide factory that was recently launched, the union published alarming reports of high levels of sickness among Tesla employees. The company has also announced that it will carry out home visits to determine the causes of the sick leave.

In addition, this case is not the first of its kind: Already in May, after the new works council election, there was a similar incident in which an IG Metall member was dismissed, which was ultimately rejected by the state labor court as unfounded. According to the union, since the beginning of the year alone, 25 warnings have been issued against IG Metall members who stand up for the interests of their colleagues. This has further fueled concerns about possible repression within the company.

Tesla, on the other hand, firmly rejects the allegations. A spokeswoman for the company explained that the dismissals had nothing to do with membership of the works council and were based on unfounded allegations. In a previous case there was talk of fraudulent working hours, while the current termination was justified in response to threats of violence against other employees. Further details about these events were not disclosed by Tesla, but the company reserves the right to take legal action against IG Metall to refute the allegations.

The situation at Tesla once again shows the tensions between company management and employee representatives. The current developments raise questions about the working conditions and the treatment of trade unionists at one of the leading companies in the electric automobile industry. More details on this topic can be found in a detailed report on www.rbb24.de.