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The UAW has filed federal labor charges against what it calls “disgraced billionaires Donald Trump and Elon Musk” for their illegal efforts to threaten and intimidate workers, either explicitly or implicitly. Workers who engage in protected collective activities, such as strikes, cannot be fired under federal law — even threatening to do so is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act.
The UAW alleges that the former president and Tesla CEO “obstructed, restricted, or coerced” workers from exercising their right to organize. The announcement of the federal labor charges was prompted in part by the former president’s appearance on the Musk-owned and hosted social media platform X on Monday night. After significant technical delays, the Billionaire Bros. held a rambling, disorganized chat before more than a million listeners in which they argued for the illegal firing of striking workers. The two conservatives made sarcastic jokes about a variety of topics, including workers’ rights.
During the conversation, Trump complimented Musk on the way he treats his employees at X, SpaceX, Tesla and his many other companies.
“You’re the best cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, ‘Do you want to quit?’ They’re going on strike. I won’t name the company, but they’re going on strike, and you say, ‘That’s okay, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.’”
Trump was specifically referring to Twitter's staff cuts in 2022, after Musk took over and changed Twitter's name to X.
In documents filed Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board, the union alleges that both men interfered with workers who might have wanted to exercise their right to unionize. The UAW, which represents more than 400,000 autoworkers, alleges that such comments could have hindered Tesla workers who might want to unionize, or intimidated workers within the Trump campaign.
One complaint was filed against the Trump campaign, and the other named Tesla Inc., the Austin, Texas-based maker of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels where Musk is CEO. The NLRB said it would investigate the charges, which is a request for the agency to investigate.
UAW President Shawn Fain mocked the inappropriate comments during Monday night's X-banter. “Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they're openly laughing about it,” Fain noted. He went on to say explain the importance of labeling Trump as a “scabber” or strikebreaker.
“When we say Trump is against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean. Donald Trump will always be against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who contributes $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected. Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they openly laugh about it. It's disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns.”
The Trump campaign called The UAW accuses the party of political orchestration by “Democratic lobbyists.”
Of course, these federal labor charges aren’t the first time Musk has found himself in the NLRB’s hot seat. The NLRB also found that in a 2018 Twitter post, Musk unlawfully threatened Tesla workers with the loss of stock options if they chose to seek union representation. He suggested he would fire workers who engaged in protected concerted activity, including work stoppages, to draw attention to their demands.
In 2022, eight former SpaceX employees died accused the company and Musk, alleging that he had them fired after they spoke out against what they called widespread sexual harassment and hostile attitudes Animal house-style work environment at the company, such as reported Through PBSIn response, SpaceX filed a lawsuit alleging that the NLRB’s jurisdiction and administrative procedures were unconstitutional. Musk tweeted a defense of his position, refuting the allegations.
“There’s nothing stopping the Tesla team at our car factory from voting union. They could do that tomorrow if they wanted to. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing?”
Meanwhile, on the Harris-Walz campaign trail…
The Harris-Walz campaign distributed the X interview clip of Trump and Musk, which read: “Trump praises billionaire Elon Musk for firing workers who struck for better wages, working conditions.” The Biden-Harris administration has supported organized laborand Trump has condemned electric vehicles in a whirlwind of symbolic partisanship and resentment, raising questions about how a potential second Trump term would change the landscape for EV manufacturers.
Harris campaign spokesman Joseph Costello mocked X's technical issues and criticized the pair's positions. “Trump's entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself — self-absorbed rich guys who are going to sell out the middle class and who can't livestream in 2024.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz held his first solo campaign event since Vice President Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate, telling government union members on Tuesday that he would be the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan. He promised“I will not get lost.” He emphasized in his speech that “when unions are strong, America is strong.”
The speech came at a convention for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees in Los Angeles. Walz told the audience a story from Vice President Harris's early years, when she worked at a fast-food chain. The story contrasted with her opponent, Trump, who inherited his company from his father. “Can you imagine Donald Trump working at McDonald's and trying to operate a McFlurry machine?” he asked the audience, which gave him a standing ovation.
Walz also recognized the importance of union members, in addition to the famous UAW auto workers. “The vice president and I, we know exactly who built this country: It was nurses, it was teachers, it was state and local government workers who built this country.”
Reflecting on how the previous Trump administration rolled back key national policies that provided a path to a low-emissions economy without offering alternatives, the UAW president reminded everyone of the important differences on display in the upcoming White House election. “What we win or lose now will affect every contract negotiation, every new organizing campaign,” Fain said, “whether we go forward or back a generation. Everything is at stake.”
Main image: Mashup by Carolyn Fortuna/CleanTechnica of “Donald Trump signs the pledge” by Michael Vadon, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. + “Elon Musk” Through Daniel Oberhaus (2018)licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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