The US electric car manufacturer Tesla wants to fully restart production in Grünheide near Berlin on Monday after a forced break due to missing parts as a result of the uncertain situation in the Red Sea.
According to the company, the production stop did not slow down the ramp-up of the factory.
Tesla suspended production on January 29th due to attacks by the Yemeni Houthi militia on ships in the Red Sea. Because components were missing, the transport routes were shifted. But not everything stood still: Tesla said it continued producing where possible, carried out maintenance and repairs and trained employees.
According to Tesla, all necessary production parts are again sufficiently available. Plant manager André Thierig told the “Tagesspiegel” that he considered the supply chains to be quite robust. A lot is also produced locally. But he doesn’t see the company as completely immune to delivery crises.
IG Metall is trying to initially stop the works council elections in March because of the break. The union believes that equal opportunities for all employees were violated in the election and had submitted an application for an interim injunction to the Frankfurt (Oder) labor court. The electoral board for the works council election rejected allegations in a letter to the workforce, which was available to the German Press Agency.
“We are accused of imposing unnecessary time pressure on the submission of lists of proposals when initiating the election. That is not true,” says the letter from chairman René Seyfert, who speaks for the electoral board. “The time frame for the election is set by law and we are bound by these requirements.” The electoral board denied violating the principles of a fair and democratic election.
The union sees equal opportunities in the nomination of candidates at risk. After the break and return to their jobs, employees would only have until Thursday to create an election proposal, recruit candidates and collect signatures. The works council election is planned for March 18th to 20th. The company has not yet commented on IG Metall’s criticism.
It is the second works council election at Tesla in Grünheide. An electoral board takes care of the preparation and implementation of the election. Tesla started production in Grünheide almost two years ago. The car manufacturer stated that the goal for the first expansion phase was to produce 10,000 cars per week with around 12,000 employees. More than 6,000 cars were recently built. According to the company, 12,500 people currently work at Tesla in Brandenburg.
Controversy over the works council election at Tesla in Grünheide – the electoral board counters criticism
In the German factory of the US electric car manufacturer Tesla, there is criticism of IG Metall’s attempt to initially stop the works council election in March due to time pressure for the workforce. The electoral board rejected allegations in an email to employees, which was available to the German Press Agency.
“We are accused of imposing unnecessary time pressure on the submission of lists of proposals when initiating the election. That is not true,” says the letter from chairman René Seyfert, who speaks for the entire electoral board. “The time frame for the election is set by law and we are bound by these requirements.”
The union had submitted an application for an interim injunction to the Frankfurt (Oder) labor court in order to initially stop the second works council election and to campaign for a new date. IG Metall sees time pressure due to the forced break in car production at Tesla up to and including Sunday (February 11th). The reason was a gap in the supply chain for components as a result of attacks by the Yemeni Houthi militia on ships in the Red Sea.
The union sees equal opportunities in the nomination of candidates at risk. After the operational break and return to their jobs, employees would only have until February 15th to create an election proposal, recruit candidates and collect signatures. The works council election is planned for March 18th to 20th. The company has not yet commented on IG Metall’s criticism.
The electoral board was surprised by the allegations and denied violating the principles of a fair and democratic election. “We strongly disagree with this,” the letter says. “We assume that the labor court will classify our plans as legally correct. We will therefore carry out the election as planned in the election notice – unless a court decision makes a change to the plan necessary.”
It is the second works council election at Tesla in Grünheide. A new election after two years is necessary if the workforce doubles. In the case of Tesla, it has increased fivefold, writes the electoral board. Such a committee takes care of the preparation and implementation of the works council election. It consists of employees entitled to vote, which can also be members of the works council. The factory in Grünheide opened in March 2022 and, according to the company, currently has around 12,500 employees.
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