SAN FRANCISCO -- The National Labor Relations Board found merit to complaints levied by Tesla factory workers against the automaker, the UAW said Monday, and the case has been scheduled to go before a judge in June.
The filing is an updated version of one initially posted in August, which claimed Tesla Inc. forced workers to sign nondisclosure agreements barring them from discussing working conditions at the factory in Fremont, Calif.
The new complaint states the automaker prevented workers from taking photos of the confidentiality agreements and intimidated employees engaging in organizing activities.
In a complaint filed Friday and first reported by Jalopnik, the NLRB said it consolidated additional charges filed against Tesla in the past year at both its Fremont factory and battery Gigafactory in Nevada. A hearing, which will be conducted by an NLRB administrative law judge in Oakland, has been scheduled for June 11.
The UAW has been increasing its efforts to organize Tesla's factories as the automaker struggles to ramp up production of its mass-market Model 3 sedan. In February 2017, Tesla worker Jose Moran detailed harsh working conditions at the Fremont plant in a blog post, adding that employees had reached out to the UAW to explore possible organization.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk dismissed the allegations, calling them "disingenuous and outright false."
"My co-workers and I will continue to speak up, and continue to work to make Tesla a better and safer company," Moran said in an emailed statement Monday. "Today's action makes clear that we have rights, that we can keep talking about what we're seeing and experiencing at Tesla."
The automaker faced more scrutiny -- and another UAW charge -- in October after firing about 700 workers in what Tesla said was the outcome of routine performance reviews. Tesla said the union's claims are unfounded, and rejected an offer from the NLRB to settle on certain claims by the union.
"These allegations from the UAW are nothing new," a Tesla spokeswoman said in a statement. "The only thing that's changed since the UAW filed these charges is that many of the allegations have been outright dismissed or are not being pursued by the NLRB. There's no merit to any of them."
