U.S. labor board tells Tesla to respond to worker confidentiality complaints

The National Labor Relations Board ordered Tesla to respond to worker complaints about a restrictive confidentiality policy, driving a deeper wedge between the company and employees trying to unionize the electric-vehicle maker’s Fremont, Calif., factory.

The federal agency found merit to claims from three Tesla factory workers that they were harassed by supervisors and security guards as they handed out union leaflets. The board ordered the company to respond by Sept. 14, and scheduled a hearing for November.

A Tesla spokesman said the company would comply with the order, but criticized the United Automobile Workers complaint as a publicity ploy.

“These allegations, which have been filed by the same contingent of union organizers who have been so outspoken with media, are entirely without merit,” the spokesman said in a statement.

Tesla factory workers this year began a public campaign with the UAW to unionize the plant to improve wages and working conditions. Tesla production workers start at about $17 per hour, below the average wage for auto workers around the country, according to the union.

Tesla workers complained to state lawmakers about the company’s confidentiality policy, saying it is overly broad and restricted workers from talking freely about safety and workplace issues.

In April, three employees filed an initial complaint with the NLRB. The employees claim Tesla security guards told them to leave company property while handing out pamphlets about the union on two separate occasions. In another incident, one supervisor told employees at a preshift meeting that Tesla would fire employees if they passed out stickers and materials not approved by the company, the complaint said.

David Gonzalez, a factory worker supporting the union, said the company confidentiality policy confused co-workers and made them afraid to discuss work issues. The complaint, he said in a statement, “will help people realize they have the right to speak up when they see something that isn’t right.”

The company spokesman said the union felt pressure to push Tesla because it failed to establish a union at a Nissan plant in August.