BUFFALO, N.Y. — Employees working to organize a union at the Tesla plant in Buffalo say the company fired 30 staffers after they announced plans to unionize.
Tesla, however, posted a link on their website outlining what they called "false allegations" about the termination 27 employees.
In a release Thursday morning, former Tesla employee and organizing committee member Arian Berek said, “I feel blindsided. I got COVID and was out of the office, then I had to take a bereavement leave. I returned to work, was told I was exceeding expectations, and then Wednesday came along. I strongly feel this is in retaliation to the committee announcement, and it’s shameful.”
Tesla Workers United said the firings were unacceptable and that expectations of employees at the Buffalo Gigafactory are "unfair, unattainable, ambiguous, and ever changing."
“We’re angry," said Sara Costantino, current Tesla employee and organizing committee member. "This won’t slow us down. This won’t stop us. They want us to be scared, but I think they just started a stampede. We can do this. But I believe we will do this."
Tesla says the performance reviews were scheduled on Dec. 13, 2022. The company also says that impacted employees were notified about their low performance.
According to the statement, Tesla says the employees that would be fired was determined on February 3, 2023, or 10 days before the announcement of a union campaign.
Additionally, workers say they received an email Wednesday evening updating them on a new company policy prohibiting recording workplace meetings without all participants granting permission. New York State law only requires one-party consent for recorded conversations.
A spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul said her office is "closely monitoring the situation."
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz issued a statement demanding the fired employees be reinstated.
Last week, in the company's annual filing with Empire State Development, they said their workforce grew 16% since 2021.