Tesla, Elon Musk’s electric car company, has denied firing workers in reaction to a group of workers attempting to organize a union in New York state.
According to the company, 27 employees were let go for “poor performance” and were “discovered… well before the union campaign was revealed.”
Organizers in Buffalo said that staff were fired the day after the union announced its plans.
They accused Tesla of sacking more than 30 individuals in an attempt to put an end to the campaign.
Tesla stated in a blog post that the decision to lay off the employees, who were part of a 675-person Autopilot labeling team, was made on 3 February.
The company stated that it only discovered in retrospect that one of the 27 impacted employees “formally recognized as part of the union effort.”
“The employees let go as part of this process received prior feedback on their poor performance from their managers over the course of the review period. Despite feedback, they did not demonstrate sufficient improvement,” it added.
Mr Musk has been outspoken about his opposition to unions in the past.
“I strongly feel this is in retaliation to the committee announcement and it’s shameful,” said Arian Berek, a fired member of the union’s organising committee.
The union named 18 workers it claimed were sacked “in reprisal for union activities and to discourage union activity” in its complaint to federal labor regulators.
Based on a corporate discussion, organizers assumed more workers had been sacked and planned to add names to the complaint. They stated that they were still determining how many of the individuals sacked were directly participating in the campaign or had simply expressed their support.
According to organizers from Tesla Workers United, which is sponsored by the same union that initiated organizing efforts at Starbucks, the Buffalo facility employs approximately 2,000 individuals.
The group is currently seeking support from Tesla employees in Buffalo in order to stage a vote on unionization. On Tuesday, it issued a letter to the corporation describing its plans and requesting that officials agree on ground conditions for a “fair” election.
A day later, campaigners said, Tesla fired more than 30 workers and sent an email informing staff of a policy that bars recording of workplace conversations without the consent of all parties.
Organisers said the rule violated their rights under federal and state laws.
The National Labor Relations Board has previously found that Tesla violated labour rules during an organising effort at its car manufacturing plant in California.
“We’re angry. This won’t slow us down. This won’t stop us. They want us to be scared, but I think they just started a stampede,” said Sara Costantino, current Tesla employee and organising committee member.
