Last year, the United Association of Automobile Workers (UAW) launched a strike against Detroit's three major car manufacturers, which still haunts the American automotive industry. Many car manufacturers feel a sense of injury.
And this feeling is quite accurate to some extent, as UAW quickly shifted its focus to other companies with car production operations in the United States after the victory in the Battle of Detroit. At the end of last year, UAW announced in a high-profile manner that it would organize workers from 13 companies to vote on whether to establish its own union.
Afterwards, many car manufacturers chose to "break even" to buy people's hearts. Volkswagen, Nissan, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, and Subaru have all announced increases in wages for American factory workers, ranging from 9% to 25%.
Even the toughest electric vehicle giant Tesla announced in December last year that raising some hourly wages at the Nevada battery factory by about 10% is enough to prove the momentum of UAW.
In the new year, Tesla clearly feels extra pressure. According to reports, in a flyer from Tesla's headquarters in Fremont, California, Tesla promised to offer salary increases to material handlers, production assistants, and quality inspectors, and stated a "market adjusted salary increase" to welcome the new year, but did not disclose the exact magnitude.
This, along with the news that Tesla suspended production at its Berlin factory in Germany after Red Sea shipping was blocked, jointly suppressed Tesla's stock price. At the close of the US stock market on Thursday, Tesla's stock price fell by about 2.9%, and its stock price continued to fall by about 1% in after hours trading.
The union is as fierce as a tiger
A worker at the Fremont factory confirmed this news, stating that salary information for 2024 has been posted on some websites, and Tesla has recently implemented a salary increase.
This move is also widely interpreted as Tesla's goodwill to workers, in order to prevent them from joining UAW and launching a new union movement by signing collective bargaining agreements.
UAW Chairman Shawn Fain previously stated that Tesla is following in the footsteps of almost all other car companies such as Toyota and Hyundai to raise wages, as workers around the world are standing up for themselves, after the Detroit Big Three provided record breaking salary increases to workers. But he believes that the salary increase offered by car manufacturers is still far below the value of their employees.
UAW is distributing flyers to Tesla factory workers, collecting names and signatures to promote the formation of the union. Once 70% of workers are willing to vote, UAW will initiate the process of establishing a union. At present, UAW has not disclosed how many people have expressed their willingness to form a union.
At the same time, Tesla is also facing significant union pressure in Europe. The strike movement, which began with Tesla mechanics in Sweden, has evolved into a common movement involving at least 15 unions. Nordic countries, workers from various industries, and investment institutions such as large pension funds are calling for Tesla to initiate collective bargaining with unions.