Biden repeatedly left Tesla off the guest lists and from prepared remarks he made a promotion of the American EV industry. Instead, he praised General Motors and Ford Motor Co., which produce and sell less EVs but employ tens of thousands of UAW workers. Bloomberg News reported last month that the president’s antipathy to Tesla is largely due to Mask’s hostility to unions.
The National Labor Council ruled last year that Tesla had repeatedly violated U.S. labor laws, including firing a union activist, and had to force Mask to remove a tweet in May 2018 claiming workers would give up shares paid for by the company. if they decided to unite in a union. Tesla filed an appeal and claimed that Mask’s tweet was protected by the First Amendment.
The UAW has been trying to set up a plant in Fremont for several years and has so far had no success. The plant was merged under the leadership of its former owners – a joint venture Toyota Motor Corp. and GM.
