【Nanda van Bergen】

Tesla workers in New York have Nanda van Bergenlaunched a union campaign, hoping to turn the company's Buffalo plant into its first unionised workplace. This Valentine's Day, it seems Tesla's workers are making the move to finally love themselves.

As reported by Bloomberg News, Tesla workers sent an email to Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday informing him of their plans to unionise. The unionisation campaign was launched by Tesla Workers United, a group of employees who work at Tesla's plant in Buffalo, working in conjunction with Workers United Upstate New York. Workers United previously helped form the first Starbucks union in the U.S., which is also located in Buffalo.

"We believe that by having a union at Tesla, we will further the mission of sustainability and foster a progressive environment for us all," Tesla Workers United wrote in an open letter. 

"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. Having greater sustainability in our own work lives and individual well-being will translate into greater ability to meet those goals, which is why we strongly believe that sustainability starts with us."

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Tesla Workers United hopes that unionising will help them advocate for better pay, job security, and working conditions. But as the first step, they're currently asking Tesla to sign the Fair Election Principles. This would declare that the company will not retaliate against workers for organising, won't impede or interfere with the election process, and will allow the union time to hold meetings and distribute information.

Tesla had not responded publicly to Tesla Workers United's request at time of writing. Mashable has reached out to Tesla and Tesla Workers United for comment.

"As staff on the floor, we know what makes this company run and what changes would help us improve both our work lives and the company," wrote Tesla Workers United. "We will have the right to negotiate a union contract and have a real voice in setting organization policies, staffing levels, rights on the job, health and safety conditions, protections from unfair firings or unfair discipline, seniority rights, leaves of absence rights, benefits, wages, etc."

These are all concerning issues even at the best of times, but Tesla Workers United's bid to unionise feels particularly pressing. The organising committee is comprised of employees that label data to train Tesla's Autopilot technology — a job that CEO Elon Musk has been keen to automate, calling such tech "the Holy Grail." Last June, Tesla laid off over 200 Autopilot workers.

Tesla Workers United also working to organise the Buffalo plant's manufacturing employees, helping them to benefit as well.

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Unfortunately, both Tesla and Musk aren't great fans of unions. In 2019 a California judge ruled Tesla broke national labour laws by hindering workers' efforts to unionise at its Fremont plant. This included preventing employees from giving out leaflets or wearing pro-union badges, interrogating workers organising the union, and even unjustly retaliating by firing them. 

The judge further found that Musk himself illegally engaged in unfair labour practices, specifically in his tweets implying that employees would have to give up their stock options if they unionised.

All in all, it's fair to say that Tesla Workers United has a tough fight ahead.

UPDATE: Feb. 17, 2023, 12:30 p.m. AEDT One day after declaring their intent to unionise, over 30 Telsa workers at the company's Buffalo plant have reportedly been fired. Workers United has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, labelling the firings "retaliation for union activity" and calling for an injunction. "We’re angry," tweeted Tesla Workers United. "But this won’t slow us down or stop us. They want us to be scared, but they just started a stampede. These firings are the exact reason why we need a union @tesla. We believe we can do this, but more importantly we believe we WILL do this."