Tesla is giving some Gigafactory workers a raise. It coincides with a union drive.
San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images
- Tesla is planning to raise the pay of hourly workers at its factory in Nevada.
- Some workers will see a raise of about 10%, CNBC reported.
- Tesla's Berlin plant has seen union organizing and its Swedish staff has been striking for weeks.
Tesla is giving workers at its Nevada factory a pay raise.
According to a CNBC report, some hourly workers at the factory, which produces Tesla's semi-truck as well as battery cells, will receive pay increases of about 10% or more starting January 2024. This might be a strategic move to forestall Tesla worker interest in forming a union in Nevada.
The company made a similar move last month when it gave 11,000 workers at its Berlin Gigafactory a 4% raise following efforts from Germany's largest union to organize at the plant.
Tesla denied at the time that there was a connection between the pay increases and union activity, however.
"Claims that there is a connection between Tesla's salary adjustments and union activities are untrue," Tesla told the WSJ.
Swedish Tesla workers, meanwhile, have been striking since late October when the trade union IF Metall announced a walkout, and have been trying to get Tesla to sign a collective labor agreement, which is commonplace in the country.
It has since sparked several sympathy strikes both in Sweden and in nearby countries. Unionized employees of Sweden's national mail service have been refusing to deliver Tesla license plates, while unions in Norway, Finland, and Denmark, are backing the strike and refusing to load, unload, or transport Tesla shipments.
Elon Musk has called the Swedish strike "insane," but a Swedish court ruled in favor of the ongoing blockade against the company.
Tesla did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.