Fremont Tesla plant remains up and running

FREMONT » Elon Musk kept his Tesla factory here running Tuesday, after suing over Alameda County’s shelter-in-place order and daring law enforcement to arrest him for violating the health department mandate.

Workers showed up at the Fremont factory early Tuesday and worked throughout the day without interruption, in violation of the orders mandated by six Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump tweeted his support for Musk’s decision, drawing more attention to the confrontation.

But if public officials in the county and the city of Fremont had a plan to handle Musk’s disobedience, it remained a wellkept secret.

Fremont Councilman Vinnie Bacon said Tuesday that Tesla and Alameda County health officials were negotiating a plan for the plant’s reopening, echoing statements

by County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, who said Musk’s lawsuit was filed just as an agreement seemed within reach.

“We are the enforcement agency, but as of now, they are negotiating, so we’re basically hoping those negotiations go well. So we’re not stepping in at this point,” Bacon said. “I think that’s the more prudent approach as opposed to going in guns blazing.”

This is not the first time that Tesla has defied local authorities over the shelter-in-place directives. In March, days after the first order was announced by Bay Area public health departments, Musk delayed shutting down the Fremont plant for a week, until eventually reaching a deal with the county.

One person who works in the Fremont factory said Tuesday that many of the plant’s workers are opposed to restarting operations but felt they had no choice but to show up.

Workers have been given surgical masks to wear, and gloves, and had their temperature taken before entering the facility, said the employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of losing their job.

However, some of the tools used on the production line are shared among multiple workers and are not cleaned or sanitized between each use, the employee said.

In response to the automaker’s latest flouting of the shelter-in-place order, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency Director Colleen Chawla reiterated to Tesla’s vice president of environmental, health and safety that the company could maintain “minimum basic operations” at the Fremont factory, such as facility security, inventory tracking and payroll services.

Any other work, Chawla added, “must cease until the health officer approves Tesla’s site-specific plan,” as required.

On Monday night, however, Musk tweeted that Tesla had restarted auto production “against Alameda County rules.” Tesla employs about 10,000 workers and builds its Model 3, Model S, Model X and Model Y vehicles at its Fremont plant.

Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment about negotiations it is having with Alameda County or the city of Fremont.

On Saturday, Tesla posted some details of it reopening plan on its company blog, but it hasn’t said how many people will initially return to work in Fremont, or how long it might be before its plant is fully operational.

Bacon called the situation with Tesla “untenable” and said it needs to be resolved soon.

“I’m OK with letting this go for a day or two,” he said of the negotiations. “Obviously there are economic implications that are being considered, especially when he’s (Musk) threatening to move his jobs away.”

Fremont city leaders acknowledged the trickiness of the situation, saying there must be a way to balance the economic importance of Tesla’s manufacturing operations with ensuring that the plant’s reopening does not set back the progress the county and region have made against the coronavirus.

“Tesla is an important partner for the city of Fremont and a part of Silicon Valley,” said Fremont Councilman Raj Salwan. Salwan, who owns a Tesla, said, he loves his car, “but no one is above the law.”

“I’m not advocating for arresting Elon,” Salwan said. “But I’m sure there are ways to cease (Tesla’s) operations especially considering we are only a few days away from reopening of manufacturing.”