Tesla remains the only US automaker without a union, with CEO Elon Musk making it clear on numerous occasions he isn't a fan of them. However, things could be about to change. Just one month ago Musk stated that the UAW could hold a union vote at Tesla at its convenience, and now United States Labor Secretary Marty Walsh appears very optimistic following a meeting with Musk at Gigafactory Texas. Walsh had the following to say, via Yahoo! Finance:
"We talked about the economy and manufacturing. We talked about a bunch of things. I did ask the question about unionization. He certainly said he is not opposed to it. He said if the workers were interested, he would love to have the conversations."
Walsh was also very impressed by Giga Texas, labeling it an "amazing facility" and "one of the biggest buildings I have seen". Walsh also praised Tesla's drive and determination, as illustrated by its ability to build the 1.2 square mile factory on what is essentially a landfill.
Walsh's comments on unionization reiterate what Musk spoke about last month. He tweeted the following on March 3:
"Our real challenge is Bay Area has negative unemployment, so if we don’t treat and compensate our (awesome) people well, they have many other offers and will just leave! I’d like hereby to invite UAW to hold a union vote at their convenience. Tesla will do nothing to stop them."
However, Musk still appears skeptical on unionization. Recently he made a joke about a $2.2 million embezzlement scheme by a former UAW treasurer in Detroit, tweeting that the new UAW slogan should be "Fighting for the right to embezzle money from auto workers!". Musk also pointed out that Tesla has created over 50,000 US jobs and is investing more than double the combined amount unionized GM and Ford are putting into EVs.
