We all love Tesla here at Techaeris, and are excited to see the new and amazing things that they’re doing with electric vehicles. The public really only gets to see a very small piece of the whole puzzle though, and what goes on behind the curtain isn’t always going to be as rosy and polished as the Model S sitting on the pedestal out front. Employees at Grohmann Engineering — a German engineering company recently purchased by the company — are threatening to strike on grounds that Tesla is paying them significantly less than they should.
Grohmann Engineering was purchased by Tesla in November 2016 as a way to help automate processes at its factories and speed up production. The move was seen as a key to launching the Model 3, Tesla’s first car aimed at the general consumer. Employees at Grohmann have complained that since Tesla took over, they’ve been paid 30% below their appropriate union wages. Tesla, in a statement to Business Insider, refutes that claim:
We continue to work directly with Tesla Grohmann employees and are prepared in the event there is an action initiated by the union. We don’t anticipate any impact on the Model 3 timeline.
Delays would be nothing new for the company, as both of their current major models have seen delays. The Model S had a brief delay at the end of 2010 into mid-2011, while the Model X was famously delayed multiple times over a period of three years. The company has rightfully been trying to smooth out processes to make things easier for the Model 3 since the more affordable car has already received completely ridiculous pre-order numbers.
The labor threats in Germany are also a bit too close to the norm too it seems. Factory workers in Tesla’s Fremont, CA, location have looked to form a union after “excessive mandatory overtime” and difficult working conditions.
What do you think about these labor troubles Elon Musk’s company is facing? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
[button link=”http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-grohmann-engineering-workers-threaten-to-strike-2017-4″ icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Business Insider[/button]
