Some say Elon Musk’s rift with the Biden administration centers on Tesla’s anti-union stance. Does Musk’s recent tweet signal changing attitudes?
Eventually, these two — Joe Biden and Elon Musk — are going to figure out they need each other.
President Joe Biden doesn’t like to mention Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc Report much, even as he pushes a pro-electric-vehicle agenda every chance he gets.
That push seems to be working.
U.S. electric-vehicle sales hit an all-time high in the fourth quarter, 148,000 units, according to Kelley Blue Book, thanks in large part to Tesla.
Tesla’s Model Y midsize SUV was the EV market leader in the quarter with a total of 63,386 deliveries. Over the same period, General Motors (GM) – Get General Motors Company Report delivered a grand total of 1 GMC Hummer EV. Startup Rivian (RIVN) – Get Rivian Automotive, Inc. Class A Report delivered 575 electric pickup trucks.
With Tesla having such an outsized market share, you would think that Biden would given Musk an “attaboy” for his efforts. But Biden has seemed more content to praise the GMs, Fords (F) – Get Ford Motor Company Report and Rivians of the world.
Those snubs have gotten the attention of Tesla CEO Musk, who has responded by trolling Biden on his favorite social media platform, Twitter.
But this week, Musk extended an olive branch to Biden. The move should appease the Democratic Party president, but it could also fundamentally change the finances of his company.
Tesla Has an Anti-Unionization History
It has been speculated that one of the main reasons for Musk’s beef with Biden is the Tesla executive’s opposition to unionization efforts at Tesla.
In May 2018, the National Labor Relations Board ordered Tesla to make Musk delete a tweet that stated “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing.” The NLRB said the tweet was seen as threatening.
Musk’s 2018 tweet wasn’t the first, or last, time he expressed his distaste for unions.
When he took a follow-up question about his tweet two days later, asking whether he was threatening to take away the stock benefits of unionized workers, Musk responded “No, UAW does that. They want divisiveness & enforcement of 2 class ‘lords & commoners’ system. That sucks.”
This tweet was “a threat of retaliation, not a lawful expression of opinion,” UAW lawyer Daniel Curry said, according to Fortune, during arguments in February after Tesla appealed the NLRB’s order last year.
Four years ago the NLRB also ordered Tesla to reinstate a union activist who was fired. The agency concluded that Tesla broke the law by retaliating against another union activist and “coercively interrogating” union supporters.
Tesla has denied wrongdoing in that case and is also currently appealing those decisions.
There is no timetable for when the panel of three judges will issue a ruling on Tesla v. NLRB.
Musk’s Olive Branch
As of March 2022, the 2018 tweet is still live, but Musk seems to have softened his stance on unions.
On Wednesday, Musk invited the United Auto Workers Union, one of the largest labor groups in the country, to hold a union vote at his plant in the Bay Area.
The UAW declined to comment about Musk’s tweet specifically, but it did point to the company’s anti-union history and its current legal proceedings with the National Labor Relations Board.
While the tweet seems like more of a dare than an invitation, unionization at Tesla plants could bring Musk, and the company, back into the Biden administration’s good graces.
