Tesla's construction workers at Texas gigafactory allege labor violations

[highplainsdem]

Source: Guardian

Construction workers who toiled on one of Tesla’s sprawling so-called gigafactories will file a complaint and a case referral with the federal Department of Labor on Tuesday detailing exploitative work conditions they say they experienced while building the plant.

Whistleblowers came forward to allege serious labor and employment violations during construction of the electric car manufacturer’s massive new facility in Austin, Texas, that left them vulnerable to injuries and wage theft.

Amid accusations of constant hazards and onsite accidents, one worker said his bosses at an unnamed subcontractor falsified credentials instead of actually providing him and others with required job training involving education about health, safety, and workers’ rights – including the right to refuse dangerous work.

Other whistleblowers are reporting what they describe as wage theft and say they weren’t paid at all or didn’t receive proper overtime compensation for their work on the hi-tech facility.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/14/tesla-texas-construction-workers-gigafactory-lawsuit-labor-violations

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Tweet where I found that link:

Link to tweet

[Chainfire]

1. Rule followers can't become billionaires. Pay the fine and move on...

[Zorro]

2. Forget it Jake. It's Abbottown.

They build schools next to fertilizer plants there.

[OnlinePoker]

3. Why did they wait until after it was completed?

Contractors and sub-contractors might get a slap on the wrist, but it's not likely anything will happen to Tesla itself. All Tesla did was hire the companies to build the place. It's up to those companies to follow the rules.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Link to a domestic source that refers back to the Guardian:

FINANCE · TESLA

‘I’m going to die in this factory’: Tesla Texas gigafactory construction workers are suing over wage theft and dangerous conditions

BY ALICE HEARING
November 15, 2022 at 7:22 AM EST

The opening of Tesla’s Texas gigafactory was celebrated with a huge party led by Elon Musk in a cowboy hat and sunglasses—but those who built it have reported dangerous and exploitative working conditions. ... Construction workers are suing the company for labor violations and will file their complaints with the Federal Department of Labor on Tuesday. ... Whistleblowers who worked on the 2,500-acre factory launched in April at Musk’s “Cyber Rodeo” event have brought to light a number of serious issues including wage theft, onsite accidents, and constant hazards.

One worker filing a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has said that they were never given the required training for health, safety and workers’ rights—including the right to refuse dangerous work—and instead the credentials were falsified by an unnamed subcontractor.

In specific examples of the dangerous working conditions, workers were told to work on the metal roof at night with no lights, on top of turbines that were blowing smoke without protective masks, and on a flooded first floor with live wiring and cords in the water, according to a report by the Guardian.

Other whistleblowers will complain that they were either not paid at all for their work, or were not given proper overtime compensation. Some who sacrificed their time to work over Thanksgiving say that they were never paid the promised double wage, according to the case referral.

{snip}

The complaints are headed in a couple of different directions. Presumably, "the company" in "Construction workers are suing the company for labor violations ..." is a contractor of subcontractor, as you stated.

From the second linked document:

These workers were jointly employed by XXXXXXXX and its subcontractors: XXXXXXXX,XXXXXXXX, and XXXXXXXX. The subcontractors are labor brokers, which furnished labor to XXXXXXXX. The labor brokers paid the workers, but XXXXXXXX exercised significant control over the workers. For example, XXXXXXXX provided supervision, directed their work, maintained some records about the workers, set schedules, and disciplined workers.

So these are labor contractors. The entity levying the complaint is directing its complaints toward OSHA and the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor.

[republianmushroom]

5. And the hole gets deeper.

[sakabatou]

6. One person says the workmanship of Teslas are getting shoddy.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Source? NT

[sakabatou]

8. I can't confirm it

Source: @car_connoisseur

Another person said that one of the USB plugs was melted into the port. Again, unconfirmed. Data set is too low.

[ShazamIam]

9. California sued Tesla for employment discrimination and other work place crimes.

Texas probably won't do anything, maybe the feds will.

The California case, interesting how it didn't make the national news cycle when it was happening.

https://www.newsweek.com/tesla-faces-californias-largest-ever-racial-discrimination-lawsuit-1678641

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

10. Surprise surprise