NLRB documents reveal aggressive, flagrantly illegal union-busting by Tesla under @ElonMusk.

Tesla autoworkers are fired, interrogated, photographed, verbally harassed by security—all in violation of federal law, the NLRB found.

Threading newsworthy findings below (1/)
2. The NLRB investigated Tesla's firing of Richard Ortiz for trying to organize a union. The agency ruled the firing was illegal—but the probe uncovered much more.

For example, how Tesla deployed security to harass autoworkers if they passed out union pamphlets:
3. In the span of just 3 hours one morning, Tesla security guards harassed workers handing out fliers 6 separate times. Different guards each time.

One guard declared that “unions are worthless” and “no good” and people “should not join one.”
4. That morning, four guards each separately insisted on taking photos of the badges of workers passing out fliers.

Another guard took photos of the workers themselves.

Multiple guards illegally ordered the pro-union Tesla workers to leave the property.
5. It is a violation of federal law to block employees from "distributing union literature during their nonwork time in nonwork areas" of work locations.

Tesla violated the law repeatedly, with impunity, bullying workers to show ID even when their identity was known.
6. Later, Ortiz & other Tesla workers asked supervisors to turn over the company's injury & safety logs.

Per federal & state law, they were entitled to have these complete logs & to share them with coworkers.

Tesla redacted the safety documents and stamped them "CONFIDENTIAL."
7. Weeks later, workers started handing out fliers about Tesla’s dangerous working conditions. That same day, HR rep Liza Lipson pulled Ortiz into a meeting.

She claimed it was about his "performance." Actually, she wanted to know if he had shared the safety logs with anyone.
8. Hours later, Lipson interrogates Ortiz’s coworker about the fliers. He repeatedly says he won't answer her questions without a representative. She ignores him & keeps asking.

The NRLB said this was part of a pattern of illegal “coercive interrogations” by Tesla managers.
9. Neither Tesla nor @ElonMusk has faced a single penalty for these violations of the law (and these tweets show just a sample).

This is why it’s so critical to pass the #PROAct, which would implement strict penalties for employers & executives who violate workers’ rights.
We'll be featuring more former and current Tesla workers on camera very soon.

If you have information about Tesla, we'd love to hear from you: stories@perfectunion.us.

We will protect your identity.

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More from @MorePerfectUS

16 Jun
EXCLUSIVE: This ex-Tesla autoworker is exposing what's happening inside @elonmusk's company.

Richard Ortiz tried to organize his coworkers at Tesla's CA factory. In response, Tesla "coercively interrogated" him three times, then fired him illegally, federal investigators say.
Ortiz is a career autoworker. He said Tesla is unlike anyplace he's worked.

- Extremely dangerous working conditions
- 12-hour shifts, 6 days a week, no questions asked
- Sick workers throwing up on the job to avoid being fired
- Brutal union-busting & hostile managers
Ortiz's account is backed by data. Injury rates at Tesla factories have been up to 31% higher than the industry standard.

Workers at Tesla have been:
-sliced by machinery
-crushed by forklifts
-burned in electrical explosions
-sprayed with molten metal
revealnews.org/article/tesla-…
Read 5 tweets
3 Jun
NEW: @McDonalds tried to silence Lizzet Aguilar for demanding safe working conditions during the pandemic.

She grabbed a megaphone instead.

Now, the movement she’s led is on the verge of passing historic legislation to transform the fast food industry.
California Assemblywoman @LorenaSGonzalez introduced the FAST Recovery Act in response to stories like Lizzet’s.

It would create a fast food sector council—bringing together labor, government and business to set stronger wages and working conditions.
Fast food workers kept many people fed throughout the pandemic. But they face low wages and unsafe conditions.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s and other highly profitable fast food corporations dole out millions in pay to CEOs.

Workers deserve $15/hr and a seat at the table.
Read 4 tweets
2 Jun
New polling by @MorePerfectUS and @DataProgress:

- Voters support the #ForThePeopleAct by a 32-point margin
- Voters support the #PROAct by a 16-point margin
- Support for these bills *increase* as voters learn more about the policy specifics
perfectunion.us/new-poll-major…
The PRO Act would overhaul existing labor law and expand workers’ rights to form a union, so that more workers could collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.

After hearing a brief summary of the bill, likely voters supported it 53% to 37%.
We then asked likely voters about 13 labor reforms included in the PRO Act. Pluralities supported 12 of the 13.

By a ~40-point margin, voters backed provisions to reinstate illegally fired workers, block immigration status discrimination, & prevent worker misclassification.
Read 7 tweets
1 Jun
NEW: Republicans' infrastructure proposal would leave 850,000 seniors and people with disabilities stranded on waitlists for home and community based care.

@POTUS's infrastructure plan would clear the waitlists, but Republicans claim it isn't "real infrastructure."
Home & Community Based Care allows people with disabilities to receive care in their own homes so they can live fuller, more independent lives outside of an institution.

Medicaid provides waivers based on need, but the average wait time is 5.5 years for people with disabilities.
Republicans want to cut the $400 billion in home care funding from Biden's American Jobs Plan.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who Biden plans to meet with tomorrow, recently said, "The administration has got to come off of the fact that infrastructure is home health aides.
Read 6 tweets
17 May
EXCLUSIVE: Amazon is already union-busting at a Staten Island warehouse where workers are just weeks into a union drive.

When organizers held a cook-out, Amazon called the Fire Dept. After workers met in a grassy area, Amazon built a fence with a “beware of dog” sign. (1/)
Amazon is sending texts warning about union organizers through the company’s employee app.

“Wearing a vest is a tactic to mislead you,” Amazon claims. (2/)
Workers say Amazon is also posting anti-union signs in bathroom stalls.

Amazon claims, "Signing an authorization card may obligate you to pay the union a monthly fee."

This is a lie. (3/)
Read 5 tweets
17 May
BREAKING: Newly revealed emails show that Amazon ordered USPS to place an illegal ballot dropbox at its Alabama warehouse during the union election.

"This is of the utmost importance" and "must get done," Amazon warned, linking the demand directly to Amazon SVP Dave Clark. (1/)
The emails surfaced today as part of the NLRB's probe into Amazon's union-busting.

In one, an Amazon exec tells USPS, "This is of the utmost importance for our senior leadership. I am not joking at all when I say that I will drive to Alabama myself to install it if need be."
In another, Amazon's Brian Palmer tells USPS officials: "This is a priority at the highest levels of the company (Dave C included) and it *must* get done."

Dave Clark oversees Amazon's warehouse operations worldwide and is a right-hand to Jeff Bezos.
Read 6 tweets

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