SUZANNE CORDEIRO—AFP/Getty Images
Alice Hearing
Tue, November 15, 2022
The opening of Tesla’s Texas gigafactory was celebrated with a huge party led by Elon Musk in a cowboy hat and sunglasses—but those who built it have reported dangerous and exploitative working conditions.
Construction workers are suing the company for labor violations and will file their complaints with the Federal Department of Labor on Tuesday.
Whistleblowers who worked on the 2,500-acre factory launched in April at Musk’s “Cyber Rodeo” event have brought to light a number of serious issues including wage theft, onsite accidents, and constant hazards.
One worker filing a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has said that they were never given the required training for health, safety and workers’ rights—including the right to refuse dangerous work—and instead the credentials were falsified by an unnamed subcontractor.
In specific examples of the dangerous working conditions, workers were told to work on the metal roof at night with no lights, on top of turbines that were blowing smoke without protective masks, and on a flooded first floor with live wiring and cords in the water, according to a report by the Guardian.
One worker reportedly remembered telling his wife: “I’m going to die in this factory.”
Other whistleblowers will complain that they were either not paid at all for their work, or were not given proper overtime compensation. Some who sacrificed their time to work over Thanksgiving say that they were never paid the promised double wage, according to the case referral.
One man allegedly was so desperate for money that he continued to work onsite with a brace having broken his arm.
History of poor labor standards
Musk’s new gigafactory for Tesla in Austin, designed to become the company’s central outpost in the U.S., was lauded as a construction worker’s dream amid the announcement in 2020, with the billionaire even tweeting that it could create 10,000 new jobs in the area—double the minimum initially established.
Located along the Colorado river, and close to the city’s airport, it drew excitement as the place where the long-awaited electric pickup “Cybertruck” would be manufactured.
However, Tesla appears to have continued a history of poor and dangerous working standards; between 2014 and 2018, the company incurred over $236,000 in fines for other OSHA violations.
Earlier this year workers at the auto manufacturer's gigafactory in China were reportedly made to sleep onsite, and work 12-hour shifts six days per week. In Reno, several injuries have been reported at a Tesla factory, including amputation
Tesla has also been accused of fostering a toxic workplace culture of discrimination and harassment, while in August the company violated labor law by restricting employees from wearing pro-union shirts.
Tesla did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Construction workers who helped build Tesla's gigafactory in Austin file complaints claiming unpaid wages and fake workplace safety certifications
Aaron Mok
Tue, November 15, 2022
Construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, Texas.Mike Blake/Reuters
Construction workers who helped build Tesla's gigafactory in Austin filed multiple workplace complaints on Tuesday.
Workers accused their subcontractors of withholding wages and failing to keep workers safe, documents say.
Workers at Tesla's factories have sued the company over working conditions in the past.
Construction workers who helped build Tesla's sprawling gigafactory in Austin, Texas filed multiple complaints to the US Department of Labor on Tuesday, alleging multiple labor violations they said they faced on the job.
The construction workers accused their subcontractors — those who employed and paid the workers — of withholding wages from some workers, according to a complaint sent by an attorney at the Workers Defense Project, the nonprofit that's representing the construction workers.
The letter redacted the names of the subcontractors for confidentially purposes in light of a potential investigation.
Some workers claimed that they were not paid a time-and-a-half overtime rate for working more than 40 hours a week. They also alleged that they were not compensated the double pay bonus they said they were promised for the extra days they spent working over Thanksgiving weekend in 2021.
Victor, a construction worker who performed carpentry work at the plant and whose name was redacted in his complaint, filed a separate complaint on Tuesday claiming that an undisclosed subcontractor sent him fabricated OSHA certificates without providing any workplace safety trainings. The Department of Labor requires construction industry employers to comply with OSHA standards to prevent their employees from potential injury.
Discussing the complaint, Victor told The Guardian that he and his team didn't have basic safety information, and feared for his safety every day.
Victor said he and his team experienced working conditions including working on a roof with no light to laboring on top of a turbine without face masks to deter the blowing smoke.
He said they were even expected to continue production on a floor filled loose wires and cords in the water after the factory flooded.
Following these incidents, he told The Guardian he remembered telling his wife that "I'm going to die in this factory."
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
Tesla opened the gigafactory in Texas in April, the manufacturer's fourth factory in the US, to ramp up production of its electric vehicles, including its long-delayed Cybertruck.
Even so, this isn't the first time that Tesla has faced complaints about its working conditions.
An investigation published earlier this year by Insider's Grace Kay and Áine Cain revealed that Tesla faced 46 lawsuits over the last 5 years from current and former Tesla workers alleging they were targeted over their race and gender. In the vast majority of the lawsuits, the carmaker has fought back and pushed for private arbitration.
Last year, Tesla paid $137 million in damages to a Black former Tesla employee after reporting that he was faced with racially-charged slurs such as the N-word on a daily basis.
In 2020, Insider reported that Tesla failed to disclose dozens of factory injuries to regulators in its safety reports to the state.
And in 2018, Tesla factory employees reportedly expressed concerns over worker safety, injury recording, and medical care at a factory in Fremont, California, according to an investigation led by Reveal.
The construction workers are seeking to recover their lost wages, according to the complaints.
Aaron Mok
Tue, November 15, 2022
Construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, Texas.Mike Blake/Reuters
Construction workers who helped build Tesla's gigafactory in Austin filed multiple workplace complaints on Tuesday.
Workers accused their subcontractors of withholding wages and failing to keep workers safe, documents say.
Workers at Tesla's factories have sued the company over working conditions in the past.
Construction workers who helped build Tesla's sprawling gigafactory in Austin, Texas filed multiple complaints to the US Department of Labor on Tuesday, alleging multiple labor violations they said they faced on the job.
The construction workers accused their subcontractors — those who employed and paid the workers — of withholding wages from some workers, according to a complaint sent by an attorney at the Workers Defense Project, the nonprofit that's representing the construction workers.
The letter redacted the names of the subcontractors for confidentially purposes in light of a potential investigation.
Some workers claimed that they were not paid a time-and-a-half overtime rate for working more than 40 hours a week. They also alleged that they were not compensated the double pay bonus they said they were promised for the extra days they spent working over Thanksgiving weekend in 2021.
Victor, a construction worker who performed carpentry work at the plant and whose name was redacted in his complaint, filed a separate complaint on Tuesday claiming that an undisclosed subcontractor sent him fabricated OSHA certificates without providing any workplace safety trainings. The Department of Labor requires construction industry employers to comply with OSHA standards to prevent their employees from potential injury.
Discussing the complaint, Victor told The Guardian that he and his team didn't have basic safety information, and feared for his safety every day.
Victor said he and his team experienced working conditions including working on a roof with no light to laboring on top of a turbine without face masks to deter the blowing smoke.
He said they were even expected to continue production on a floor filled loose wires and cords in the water after the factory flooded.
Following these incidents, he told The Guardian he remembered telling his wife that "I'm going to die in this factory."
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
Tesla opened the gigafactory in Texas in April, the manufacturer's fourth factory in the US, to ramp up production of its electric vehicles, including its long-delayed Cybertruck.
Even so, this isn't the first time that Tesla has faced complaints about its working conditions.
An investigation published earlier this year by Insider's Grace Kay and Áine Cain revealed that Tesla faced 46 lawsuits over the last 5 years from current and former Tesla workers alleging they were targeted over their race and gender. In the vast majority of the lawsuits, the carmaker has fought back and pushed for private arbitration.
Last year, Tesla paid $137 million in damages to a Black former Tesla employee after reporting that he was faced with racially-charged slurs such as the N-word on a daily basis.
In 2020, Insider reported that Tesla failed to disclose dozens of factory injuries to regulators in its safety reports to the state.
And in 2018, Tesla factory employees reportedly expressed concerns over worker safety, injury recording, and medical care at a factory in Fremont, California, according to an investigation led by Reveal.
The construction workers are seeking to recover their lost wages, according to the complaints.
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