Elon Musk has been in the spotlight a lot recently for his role on the Presidential Advisory Forum, but the Tesla CEO is now making headlines over a disagreement with the United Automobile Workers.
The UAW on Friday claimed it’s been contacted by workers from Tesla’s Fremont, Calif., factory expressing a desire to unionize, Reuters reports. The news comes one day after an alleged disgruntled Tesla worker, Jose Moran, wrote a blog post claiming the electric vehicle manufacturer overworks and underpays its employees.
Musk told Gizmodo that Tesla thinks Moran was paid by the UAW.
“Our understanding is that this guy was paid by the UAW to join Tesla and agitate for a union,” Musk said. “He doesn’t really work for us, he works for the UAW.”
Although the UAW told Reuters that Moran “is not and has not been paid by the UAW,” there’s reason to believe Musk’s assertion isn’t entirely baseless.
In Gizmodo’s original article published Thursday at 4:30 p.m. ET, it noted it was “unable to find anyone by the name of Jose Moran currently working for Tesla on any social media.” It updated the article Friday morning, however, to reflect that a LinkedIn account had been created in Moran’s name.
In addition to attempting to discredit Moran, Musk reportedly also said attacks from the UAW are “morally outrageous,” considering the union “abandoned the workers” at the Fremont plant when Tesla purchased it from General Motors in 2010.
Updated Feb. 10 at 3:30 p.m. ET:
The UAW tweeted the link to a video Moran posted to the Facebook page A Fair Future At Tesla discussing his blog post.
Somebody commented on an older post on A Fair Future At Tesla, commending Moran for his blog post. The user tagged what appears to Moran’s personal account, Jose Organizer, in their comment. The bio on Jose Organizer’s account reads, “I am a Production Associate here at Tesla and also an organizer for the UAW union.”
Updated Feb. 10 at 5:20 p.m. ET:
A representative of the UAW confirmed Moran serves as an organizer for the union, but it is a volunteer position.
Thumbnail photo via Tesla
