Officials for the United Automobile Workers union say former President Donald Trump and Tesla founder Elon Musk illegally threatened union workers who might go on strike Monday night.
Trump and Musk conducted a two-hour interview on Musk’s X social media platform Monday evening that UAW officials said was viewed by a million people. Trump already has endorsed the former president in his efforts to return to the White House after this fall’s general elections.
On Tuesday morning, the UAW filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board and accused Trump and Musk of illegally intimidating union workers.
UAW officials in a news release Tuesday accused Trump and Musk of “illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes.”
During the X conversation, Trump suggested an auto company like Tesla might fire workers who threaten to 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,'” Trump told Musk.
Tesla does not have a collective bargaining agreement with labor and in October endured a workers’ strike in Sweden due to the electric-vehicle manufacturer not agreeing to workers’ collective bargaining demands.
Musk also fired many Twitter staffers after buying the popular social media platform in 2022.
“Workers cannot be fired for going on strike and threatening to do so is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act,” the UAW said. “When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in the UAW news release.
“Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk.”
Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes called the complaint “frivolous” and a “shameless political stunt intended to erode President Trump’s overwhelming support among America’s workers.”
“While Kamala Harris pushes a job-crushing electric vehicle mandate that is crippling our manufacturing industry, raising costs, and sending even more jobs to China, President Trump has pledged to slap a 100 percent tariff on Chinese imports to make sure that the future of the auto industry will be made in America,” Hughes said.
“Democrat special interest bosses may lie and stoke fear to try and stop President Trump from creating the broadest coalition of any candidate in history,” Hughes said, “but rank-and-file workers and their families know the truth.”
Tesla officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (UPI)