UPDATE: Tesla Showers Workers with Incentives at Key Supplier in Germany

Tesla Inc. if offering workers at a critical German supplier of factory automation an array of wage hikes, job guarantees, stock options and a one-time €1,000 ($1,100) bonus in a bid to avoid a strike, Reuters reports.

Tesla bought the company, Grohmann Engineering GmbH, last November, making the company the headquarters for a new entity called Tesla Advanced Automation Germany and vowing to add 1,000 jobs there by the end of 2018.

The carmaker is counting on Grohmann’s technology to underpin its mass production launch of the Model 3 electric sedan this summer. Tesla also assumed the company would continue to be operated by founder and CEO Klaus Grohmann.

But the head of the German company’s works council tells Reuters that Grohmann unexpectedly retired at the end of March and hasn’t been seen since. A source tells Reuters Grohmann was removed after a clash with Tesla CEO Elon Musk about how to handle the company’s existing clients, which include BMW and Daimler.

Meanwhile, Germany’s powerful IG Metall union, noting that some of Grohmann’s workforce is being paid 25%-30% less than the current industry standard, is threatening a strike unless Tesla confirms to the union’s nationwide collective wage agreement. Reuters says IG Metall also wants jobs guarantees beyond the five years Tesla has offered.