Musk Disputes Claim that Tesla Staff is Overworked and Underpaid

Tesla Motors Inc. CEO Elon Musk describes as “morally outrageous” claims by an employee about worker injuries, high turnover, poor morale, low wages and long work hours.

The work description comes from Jose Moran, who would like to have the workers represented by the United Auto Workers union. Musk huffs that Moran was “paid by the UAW to join Tesla and agitate for a union.”

The UAW denies Musk’s claim and accuses him of spreading fake news. The union confirms it has been contacted by Moran and other Tesla workers but depicts its interaction as preliminary.

Musk insists Tesla is “union-neutral.” He also says the company’s compensation, which includes stock grants, is greater than that of UAW-represented auto plants.

Musk further opines that the UAW was responsible for the decision by General Motors and Toyota to shut down their New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. venture and assembly plant in Fremont, Calif., in 2010. Tesla acquired the NUMMI facility later that year.

NUMMI had faltered a year earlier when GM went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and withdrew from the venture. Toyota then described the 5.3 million-sq-ft- plant as no longer economically viable and closed it. Toyota currently has no unionized plants in the U.S.