Tesla Employees At New York Gigafactory Want To Unionize

Workers at the Tesla Gigafactory in Buffalo, New York, intend to launch a unionization effort in what's expected to be a battle between them and CEO Elon Musk.

These employees label data for the carmaker's Autopilot system and, per Bloomberg, say they are "tired of being treated like robots." This is not the first time Tesla employees have tried to unionize.

In 2017, an attempt was made at the Fremont Gigafactory in California, home of the Model S and Model X, but the effort ultimately failed despite assistance from the United Auto Workers (UAW). Musk has not been shy regarding his disdain for the UAW and unionization.

He battled the earlier effort, and the National Labor Relations Board later ruled the automaker violated federal law by "coercively interrogating" union supporters and even firing one of them. Tesla denies any wrongdoing and is appealing the ruling.

Musk invited the UAW to try another unionization vote at Fremont last year and pledged to "do nothing to stop them," but the union has yet to accept the offer.

This time around, the Buffalo workers are confident they have a case. They're demanding better pay, job security, and an ease in production pressure they claim is bad for their health.

According to the workers, Tesla even monitors keystrokes to track how much time they devote per task and how many hours of the day they spend working. They've clearly had enough. "Unionizing will further accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy because it will give us a voice in our workplace and in the goals we set for ourselves to accomplish," employees said in the letter to Tesla management.