Tesla worker: long hours, low pay and unsafe conditions

Ah the GIG economy, low pay, lots of responsibility and less time away from work. Maybe Tesla is having some issues with labor.

Ut oh, there maybe trouble at Tesla with low pay, unsafe conditions and aggressive production deadlines. So there maybe some thoughts of joining a union.....

FREMONT – Disgruntled Tesla employees have reached out to the United Automobile Workers, claiming they work long hours for low pay under unsafe conditions while the electric vehicle company sets aggressive production deadlines.

www.mercurynews.com...

The corp tells a different story, the safety and satisfaction of their employees is extremely important to them . Of course they (the corp) has a long history of engaging directly with their employees.
And I would imagine they would like to keep it that way, especially with pay being $17 to $21 for Tesla workers when the average is $25.58.

“The safety and job satisfaction of our employees here at Tesla has always been extremely important to us,” a Tesla spokesman said. “We have a long history of engaging directly with our employees on the issues that matter to them, and we will continue to do so because it’s the right thing to do.”

Jose Moran, a production worker at the Fremont plant, wrote in an online blog post that workers typically earn between $17 and $21 per hour, below the national average for a U.S. autoworker of $25.58 per hour.

Morgan, a Tesla employee said it is very difficult to make ends meet in the Bay area, he puts 60-70 hours in a week. The employees work almost every saturday, to keep up with demand.

Moran, a 43-year-old husband and father of two, has been with the company for four years. He said he’s proud of the work he’s done at Tesla to produce innovative, electric vehicles. But even with a steady paycheck, he said, it’s hard to make ends meet in the Bay Area. He commutes from Manteca, spending three hours a day in his vehicle, and can put in 60-70 hours per week.

In November and December, employees worked almost every Saturday to keep up with demand, he said.

originally posted by: seasonal
Ah the GIG economy, low pay, lots of responsibility and less time away from work. Maybe Tesla is having some issues with labor.

Ut oh, there maybe trouble at Tesla with low pay, unsafe conditions and aggressive production deadlines. So there maybe some thoughts of joining a union.....

FREMONT – Disgruntled Tesla employees have reached out to the United Automobile Workers, claiming they work long hours for low pay under unsafe conditions while the electric vehicle company sets aggressive production deadlines.

www.mercurynews.com...

The corp tells a different story, the safety and satisfaction of their employees is extremely important to them . Of course they (the corp) has a long history of engaging directly with their employees.
And I would imagine they would like to keep it that way, especially with pay being $17 to $21 for Tesla workers when the average is $25.58.

“The safety and job satisfaction of our employees here at Tesla has always been extremely important to us,” a Tesla spokesman said. “We have a long history of engaging directly with our employees on the issues that matter to them, and we will continue to do so because it’s the right thing to do.”

Jose Moran, a production worker at the Fremont plant, wrote in an online blog post that workers typically earn between $17 and $21 per hour, below the national average for a U.S. autoworker of $25.58 per hour.

Morgan, a Tesla employee said it is very difficult to make ends meet in the Bay area, he puts 60-70 hours in a week. The employees work almost every saturday, to keep up with demand.

Moran, a 43-year-old husband and father of two, has been with the company for four years. He said he’s proud of the work he’s done at Tesla to produce innovative, electric vehicles. But even with a steady paycheck, he said, it’s hard to make ends meet in the Bay Area. He commutes from Manteca, spending three hours a day in his vehicle, and can put in 60-70 hours per week.

In November and December, employees worked almost every Saturday to keep up with demand, he said.

Maybe he should move. The bay area is one of, if not the most expensive housing market in the country. A lot of people work 60+ hour weeks. Cry me a river. My wife has received job offers to relocate there and we won't go. It cost too much to live there and the salaries aren't high enough to make up for the increased COL.

a reply to: Edumakated

He commutes for an hour and a half.

According to the story Tesla pay is less than the national average, maybe an average hourly pay would help him and other workers make ends meet.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: Edumakated

He commutes for an hour and a half.

According to the story Tesla pay is less than the national average, maybe an average hourly pay would help him and other workers make ends meet.

His commute time is his personal choice though. Tesla is only going to pay what the skillset is worth.

a reply to: Edumakated

According to the story they are going to pay less than average for the skill set.

This maybe why the United Auto workers are entering the equation.

a reply to: seasonal

But it's Tesla...it's fine, because they produce electric vehicles which are obviously so much cleaner for the environment.

/sarc

But seriously, it's an employer's market right now--these folks should enjoy being employed. Of course, they could always move her to Northern KY where factory jobs are springing up like weeds, the relative cost of living can be low, and Amazon just announced that they are putting an international hub here associated with CVG (Cincinnati airport), so even more jobs will come in.

Those jobs start at around $17/hr and would allow them to live probably much more comfortably than in San Francisco. But, apparently, moving to make a better life for one's self is not an option anymore, so we have to complain to a union and hope that they fix the "problem" for us.

As a person who has move both states and countries because of employment, I find this sort of complaining to be absolutely pathetic.

The funny reality is, they're complaining about having to work Saturdays, but if they didn't, they'd have even less in their paycheck, making it even harder to live where they are.

Pick up your feet and find a better income-to-cost-of-living ratio, people. You don't have anchors attached to your feet.

I'm not a big fan of labor unions, but they do have their uses. And it sounds like Tesla workers might have some legitimate problems.

Of course, Musk is a Silicon Valley-type, and I suspect he'd sooner burn down the Tesla factory than allow it to be unionized.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: Edumakated

According to the story they are going to pay less than average for the skill set.

This maybe why the United Auto workers are entering the equation.

Average means some people make less and some people make more. You can't have an "average" where everyone makes above average.

Tesla is a popular company and sometimes people are willing to make less to work at an in demand work place. The upside to Tesla and a lot of high tech companies is the STOCK OPTIONS. This is where the real money is made. You are taking a calculated risk of a lower salary that you may get a lottery like windfall in stock options.

When I was in business school a lot of student would turn down high paying banking, consulting, and other jobs to get in on the ground floor at start ups hoping to hit the IPO lottery. There was this little unknown search engine called Google that I know several people took jobs at at less than half of what they could have gotten going to work at say Goldman Sachs. They are multi-millonaires now...

a reply to: seasonal

And this wouldn't be the UAW stirring up some crap, now would it???

Nahhhhhhh!

/sarcasm

a reply to: SlapMonkey

Agreed, they could move.


Anti union people are funny. CEO's will not work with out a contract with the company. If it is good for a CEO to have things spelled out, then a lowly factory rat should then too, right?

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: SlapMonkey

Agreed, they could move.


Anti union people are funny. CEO's will not work with out a contract with the company. If it is good for a CEO to have things spelled out, then a lowly factory rat should then too, right?

There is a huge difference between typical employment contracts and union contracts.

Most managers aren't going to bitch at having to work long hours to get a project done. Most managers will do what needs to get done even if it means stepping outside of your defined job description. Most managers work after hours and weekends with no expectation of double or time and half. Most managers want to be able to get rid of dead weight employees who don't do their jobs well.

Typical employment contracts will discuss things like salary and bonuses at a high level. Non-compete clauses, etc. However, they don't get into the rigidity of union contracts.

Union contracts are the complete opposite.

a reply to: Edumakated

Where do you work?

Most managers aren't going to bitch at having to work long hours to get a project done. Most managers will do what needs to get done even if it means stepping outside of your defined job description

I think the problem is the project is NEVER done.


There are tons of things in contracts, depends on who, what and where.

My point was that a CEO will not work without one. And it spells out very definite issues, like big bonuses if they were to be fired.

a reply to: seasonal

I'm a non-union federal employee--I got things spelled out to me when I got hired. That was my contract.

The difference between the union employees in my job (and I've noted this for private sector jobs, too) and me is that I have less protection against getting fired, I'm not forced to pay union dues, I have to advocate on behalf of myself, like an adult should, and my colleagues and I could get fired and replaced for being bad at our jobs.

There was a guy who worked on the union side of things as a warehouse guy, and it was discovered (proven) that he was selling drugs out of the warehouse, on federal property, during work hours. He was fired, but then ran to his union rep and the union fought on his behalf (why???) and got him rehired--the kicker is that he didn't get rehired in his old warehouse job. They found it appropriate to put a drug dealer in a job where he was responsible for all of the employee identification cards.

Go modern-day unions!

That's what happens when you live in a liberal state. Taxes are outrageous and the price of living is extremely inflated. I used to live in Connecticut, which is another very liberal state and the cost of living there is outrageous. I made 60k/yr when I lived there and could barely afford a #ty 2 bedroom apartment.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

There are good and bad in all situations.

I find it interesting that you think it is a good and fair idea that a person that is looking for work ($$$) should bargain with what can be a billion $ Multinational corp that has teams of lawyers at their finger tips.

I don't like the bad being protected but by protecting the few bad the rest is protected.

a reply to: Middleoftheroad

With the last election, what does being a liberal state mean?

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: SlapMonkey

There are good and bad in all situations.

I find it interesting that you think it is a good and fair idea that a person that is looking for work ($$$) should bargain with what can be a billion $ Multinational corp that has teams of lawyers at their finger tips.

I don't like the bad being protected but by protecting the few bad the rest is protected.

It's called negotiations. People do it everyday. My wife is an executive at a well known company. Every time she has changed companies, they make her an offer and she negotiates. If they really want you as an employee, they will pony up the cash. In some cases, the companies wouldn't pay what she wanted, so she said nice knowing you and took a different job. That simple.

Some jobs people have a lot of leverage and other jobs people don't have as much leverage. It is basic supply and demand. As an individual, you should always work to put yourself in the best possible position so that you are in demand. This usually means gaining certain skillsets, education, and experience.

We all are free agents. It is up to the individual to make themselves more attractive to companies.

Companies pay certain jobs X wages because that is what the labor is worth relative to the supply of workers available who can competently do the job. The wages do not reflect what is "fair" or what people believe they deserve. Emotion is not in the equation.

originally posted by: SlapMonkey
a reply to: seasonal

I'm a non-union federal employee--I got things spelled out to me when I got hired. That was my contract.

The difference between the union employees in my job (and I've noted this for private sector jobs, too) and me is that I have less protection against getting fired, I'm not forced to pay union dues, I have to advocate on behalf of myself, like an adult should, and my colleagues and I could get fired and replaced for being bad at our jobs.

There was a guy who worked on the union side of things as a warehouse guy, and it was discovered (proven) that he was selling drugs out of the warehouse, on federal property, during work hours. He was fired, but then ran to his union rep and the union fought on his behalf (why???) and got him rehired--the kicker is that he didn't get rehired in his old warehouse job. They found it appropriate to put a drug dealer in a job where he was responsible for all of the employee identification cards.

Go modern-day unions!

It has nothing to do with personal maturity - it has to do with 'power' inequities.

The difference being that the low/mid level employee have no 'leverage' when advocating for themselves. Only 'en masse', collectively, is there sufficient leverage on the side of workers in negotiations with Capital. Even at the highest levels - where C levels negotiate their 'contracts' it's really pretty standard these days - kinda of an informal union of Cs.

I don't understand why Tesla didn't build the factory in a low tax, low costing of living state in flyover country.

Other than that, I want to watch various mental gymnastics that may take place on this topic.

We have:
1. Technocrat Hero Elon Musk
2. Factory workers wanting to unionize: wanting higher wages
3. Low Free Market wages caused by a large amount of immigrants in california depressing wages.

a reply to: FyreByrd

I find it is funny that these cars are some of the most costly, and the pay is below average. Especially when it is located in Cali, the center of the universe for fairness and safety.