Trump & Musk Pal Around While UAW Files Federal Labor Charges Against Them Both – CleanTechnica

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The UAW has filed federal labor charges against what it calls “disgraced billionaires Donald Trump and Elon Musk” due to their illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers, whether explicitly or implicitly. Workers who self-advocate for better working conditions by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes, cannot be fired under federal law — even threatening to do so is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act.

The UAW claims the former president and the Tesla CEO had “interfered with, restrained, or coerced employees” who were exercising their right to organize. The announcement of the federal labor charges partially resulted from the former president’s appearance on the social media platform X, owned and hosted by Musk, on Monday evening. After significant technical delays, the Billionaire Bros had a rambling, disorganized conversation in front of over one million listeners in which they advocated for the illegal firing of striking workers. The two conservatives bantered caustically about multiple topics, including workers’ rights.

During the pal prattle, Trump complimented Musk for the way he handles his workforce at X, SpaceX, Tesla, and his numerous other companies.

“You’re the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, ‘You want to quit?’ They go on strike. I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, ‘That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.’”

Trump was referring particularly to the 2022 labor force reduction at Twitter after Musk assumed its leadership role and renamed it X.

In documents filed Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board, the union alleges that both men interfered with workers who may want to exercise their right to join a union. The UAW, which represents over 400,000 auto workers, contends such comments could inhibit workers at Tesla who might want to join a union, or they might intimidate workers within the Trump campaign.

One charge was filed against the Trump campaign, and the other named Tesla Inc., the electric vehicle, battery, and solar panel manufacturer based in Austin, Texas, where Musk is CEO. The NLRB said it would look into the charges, which are a request for the agency to investigate.

UAW President Shawn Fain derided the inappropriate comments during the Monday night X banter. “Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly,” Fain observed. He went on to explain the importance of calling out Trump as “a scab,” or strikebreaker.

“When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean. Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected. Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns.”

The Trump campaign called the UAW charges a political orchestration by “Democrat special interest bosses.”

Of course, these federal labor charges aren’t the first time Musk has found himself in an NLRB hot seat. The NLRB also determined that a 2018 Twitter post by Musk unlawfully threatened Tesla employees with the loss of stock options if they decided to be represented by a union, suggesting he would fire employees engaged in protected coordinated activity, including work stoppages to call attention to their demands.

In 2022, eight former workers at SpaceX sued the company and Musk, alleging he ordered them fired after they challenged what they called rampant sexual harassment and a hostile Animal House-style work environment at the company, as reported by PBS. In response, SpaceX filed a suit claiming the NLRB’s authority and administrative proceedings were unconstitutional. Musk tweeted a defense of his position and countered the allegations.

“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?”

Meanwhile, on the Harris–Walz Campaign Trail …

The Harris–Walz campaign circulated the X interview clip of Trump and Musk, saying, “Trump praises billionaire Elon Musk for firing workers who were striking for better pay and working conditions.” The Biden–Harris administration has backed organized labor, and Trump has condemned electric vehicles in a whirlwind of symbolic partisanship and rancor, which raises questions about how a potential second term for Trump would change the landscape for EV makers.

A Harris campaign spokesman, Joseph Costello, mocked X’s technical issues and criticized the pair’s views. “Trump’s entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself — self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024.”

Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota held his first solo campaign event since Vice President Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate, telling unionized government workers on Tuesday that he would be the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan. He also promised, “I won’t lose my way.” He emphasized in his speech that, “when unions are strong, America is strong.”

The address took place at a convention for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees in Los Angeles. Walz shared with the crowd a story from Vice President Harris’ younger years, when she worked at a fast-food chain. The narrative served as a contrast to her opponent, Trump, who inherited his business from his father. “Can you picture Donald Trump working at a McDonald’s, trying to run a McFlurry machine?” he asked the crowd, which responded to him with a standing ovation.

Walz acknowledged the importance of union members beyond the famous UAW autoworkers, too. “The Vice President and I, we know exactly who built this country—it was nurses, it was teachers, and it was state and local government employees that built this nation.”

Reviewing how the previous Trump administration rolled back key national policy that provided a pathway toward a low emissions economy without offering up any alternatives, the UAW president reminded everyone the important distinctions that are evident in the upcoming election for the White House. “What we win or lose now will impact every single contract negotiation, every new organizing campaign,” Fain declared, “whether we go forwards or backwards for a generation. Everything is at stake.”

Featured image: Mashup by Carolyn Fortuna/CleanTechnica from “Donald Trump Signs The Pledge” by Michael Vadon, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. + “Elon Musk” by Daniel Oberhaus (2018), licensed under CC BY 2.0.