Construction workers at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas complain about working conditions

Construction workers are suing the company for labor violations and will file their complaints with the federal labor ministry on Tuesday.

Whistleblowers working at the 2,500-acre factory, which opened at Musk’s “Cyber ​​Rodeo” event in April, have brought to light a number of serious issues, including wage theft, on-site accidents and constant danger.

A worker who filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) said he never received the required health, safety and workers’ rights training – including the right to refuse hazardous work – and instead had forged credentials from an unnamed subcontractor.

In specific examples of hazardous working conditions, workers were told to work at night with no lights on the metal roof, on turbines that were emitting smoke without protective masks, and on a flooded ground floor where live wires and cables lay in the water, according to a report by the Guardian.

One worker reportedly recalled telling his wife, “I’m going to die in this factory.”

Other whistleblowers will complain that they have either not been paid at all for their work or have not received adequate overtime pay. Some who sacrificed their time to work over Thanksgiving say they were never paid double the wages they were promised, according to the case reference.

A man was said to be so desperate for money that he continued to work locally wearing an orthosis that broke his arm.

history of poor working conditions

Musk’s new Gigafactory for Tesla in Austin, set to become the company’s central US outpost, was hailed as a construction worker’s dream when it was announced in 2020, with the billionaire even tweeting that it could create 10,000 new jobs in the region – twice as many minimum initially set.

Located on the Colorado River and near the city’s airport, it caused quite a stir as the location where the long-awaited “Cybertruck” electric pickup truck would be manufactured.

However, Tesla appears to have continued a history of poor and dangerous labor standards; Between 2014 and 2018, the company was fined over $236,000 for other Osha violations.

Earlier this year, workers at the automaker’s Gigafactory in China were reportedly made to sleep on site and work 12-hour shifts six days a week. Multiple injuries, including amputations, were reported at a Tesla factory in Reno, Nevada

Tesla has also been accused of promoting a toxic work culture of discrimination and harassment, while in August the company broke labor laws by banning employees from wearing pro-union shirts.

Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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