UAW Statement on Labor Board Ruling Against Tesla

Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in the first of the two Tesla cases before it. The Court upheld the NLRB’s rulings (1) that Musk’s tweets were unlawful threats, rejecting Tesla’s First Amendment arguments, and (2) that Tesla had unlawfully fired Richard Ortiz for exercising his rights to organize a union.

“This is a happy day where my rights were finally vindicated. I look forward to returning to work at Tesla and working with my co-workers to finish the job of forming a Union,” said Richard Ortiz who was unlawfully terminated from Tesla for union activity.

“This a great victory for workers who have the courage to stand up and organize in a system that is currently stacked heavily in favor of employers like Tesla who have no qualms about violating the law,” said UAW Region 6 Director, Mike Miller.

“While we celebrate the justice in today’s ruling, it also highlights our broken US labor law. Here is a company that clearly broke the law and yet it is several years down the road before these workers have achieved a modicum of justice,” said UAW President, Shawn Fain. “For the workers who make these companies run, it’s not about electric vehicles or internal combustion vehicles. It’s about justice on and off the job.”