Gary Zhou 
Key Points
- 🤝 Tesla Giga Berlin employees are increasingly joining IG Metall, Germany’s largest union.
- ⚠️ The Tesla workers express concerns about working conditions, including staff shortages, heavy workloads, and ambitious production targets.
- 🚧 IG Metall alleges a lack of safety provisions at Giga Berlin, resulting in a high rate of accidents.
- 📈 While the exact number of Giga Berlin employees joining the union is undisclosed, IG Metall reports a significant increase in new members.
- 👥 Over 1,000 Giga Berlin workers showed support for the union by attending a meeting calling for “safe and fair work at Tesla.”
- 📧 Tesla managers invited teams to a meeting to discuss IG Metall’s presence, offering food and surprises.
- 🇩🇪 IG Metall emphasizes that all employees in Germany have the right to openly join a union and stand up for their rights in the workplace.
IG Metall, Germany’s largest union and Europe’s largest industrial union, has noted that it is seeing a rise in signups from Tesla Giga Berlin employees. The union claimed that the Tesla employees were concerned about their working conditions.
The union, which represents over 2 million workers in the German metal and electrical industries, stated that Tesla workers are complaining about several issues. These include staff shortages, extreme workloads, and highly ambitious production targets.
IG Metall also alleged that the lack of safety provisions in Giga Berlin was leading to a high rate of accidents at the site. Despite these claims, the union has not shared the exact number of Giga Berlin employees who signed up for the union, though it has maintained that it has seen a steep rise in new members at the EV maker.
Tesla, for its part, has not responded to the union’s claims as of writing.
Sentiments about IG Metall among some of Giga Berlin’s workers appear to be positive. The union noted that on Monday, over 1,000 workers showed up at the facility with stickers calling for “safe and fair work at Tesla.” Considering that Giga Berlin is estimated to employ about 12,000 workers today, the number of people who showed their support for the union was notable.
As noted in a Reuters report, Tesla managers invited their teams to a meeting to discuss IG Metall’s presence. “We want to speak with you and your teams about the questionable methods and actual goals of IG Metall,” the Tesla managers noted, as per an email reportedly viewed by the publication. The meeting reportedly had food and a “surprise” for those who attended as well.
Local IG Metall official Dirk Schulze issued a comment about the matter. “No one in Germany needs to hide their union membership. The German Constitution gives all employees the right to organize in a union and to openly stand up for it in the workplace — this also applies at Tesla,” Schulze said.
