On June 9, last week, elonmusk, CEO of Tesla, asked employees to work 40 hours a week in the office. Recently, Ig metall, Germany's largest automobile trade union, questioned Musk's requirements and claimed that it would support German workers who were unwilling to comply with Musk's requirements. Last week, musk told Tesla executives to return to the office for at least 40 hours a week, or resign immediately. Musk said on twitter that this decision will promote the equality of Tesla factory workers and executives.
Ig metall, the German automobile trade union, said in a statement that it would support any German workers who are unwilling to comply with Musk's requirements. It is reported that Ig metall recently opened an office near Tesla's Berlin super factory, representing about 2.3 million workers in the German manufacturing industry, including some Tesla employees.
Birgit Dietze, head of Ig metall Brandenburg Saxony, said: "according to German law, whoever disagrees with this one-sided requirement will have the support of trade unions behind him."
In February this year, Tesla workers elected 19 people to join the Labor Committee of the company one month before the commencement of the super factory in Berlin, Germany. In Germany, unlike trade unions, the Labour Council is an organization that can fight for the rights and interests of workers at the local level. Committee representatives are usually elected every two to four years.
In a statement, Ig metall questioned Musk's rule of returning employees to the office.
"In Germany, employers can't set rules at will," says dietzer. "If employees are not willing to accept the company's requirements, they can rely on the strength of the trade union."
In the past, musk has publicly opposed the formation of trade unions by Tesla employees. Earlier this year, musk posted a video on twitter mocking the UAW.
Tesla's factory workers in the United States sought to establish a labor union in 2017, but were strongly opposed at the company level. Last year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that Tesla and musk "illegally threatened" workers who wanted to form a union. NLRB said that Tesla "interrogated" the employees involved in the action and ordered musk to delete a tweet that was considered "against the establishment of a trade union".
After Musk's request, some Tesla employees may begin to seek to avoid the order to return to work. Last week, personnel recruiters from large technology companies such as Amazon and Microsoft began to contact these people, and executives from BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen expressed the same view.
Gunnar Kilian, a member of VW's board of directors in charge of human resources, said: "we have completely different views on creating an attractive working environment. We advocate giving individuals more rights and responsibilities in the team and balancing the proportion of mobile office and face-to-face work." (Chenchen)