A Bloomberg report has it that Tesla Inc has terminated dozens of employees at its plant in Buffalo, New York, a day after Autopilot workers at the facility announced a union campaign.
In a filing with the US National Labor Relations Board, the union Workers United accused Tesla of illegally terminating the employees “in retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity.”
According to Bloomberg, several of the terminated employees had been involved in labor discussions, including at least one who was a member of the organizing committee.
Tesla’s Buffalo factory employs more than 800 Autopilot analysts, non-engineering roles that contribute to Tesla’s automated-driving development, including by identifying objects in images its vehicles capture and helping its systems recognize them on the road, according to the union.
The company dismissed hundreds of workers performing these jobs in California last year, Bloomberg reported in June.
In addition to job security and increased pay, employees have said they seek a say in workplace decision-making and want to curb monitoring, metrics, and production pressure that they claim are harmful to their health.
