Elon Musk makes no secret of what he thinks about labor unions who wield great influence over Democrats and Joe Biden. Biden held an electric car event at the White House and did not invite Tesla, even though they manufacture 87% of all electric cars made in America. At the event, Biden touted GM as the leader of the “EV revolution”. GM manufactured just 26 electric vehicles during that quarter.
So, why was Tesla not invited? The United Auto Workers were invited and they hate Tesla because they are not unionized. But, their employees rejected the union just as SpaceX employees did.
Let me share a union story with you. I worked for Jacuzzi in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ some 40-plus years ago and we were a union shop. No representatives ever came to see us even when we had complaints. They would visit when they raised our union dues and that was it. I led the movement to do away with the union and it was successful. The next week, I received a package from our HQ in Arkansas announcing that I would get a $45 dollar pay raise and my new insurance did not have a co-pay at all, even for emergency visits.
I told my boss Mario that it would not look good that I received what looked like a reward for doing away with the union. It was then that he informed me that the company raised our pay and benefits (I got an extra week of vacation) because the company gives that to all their non-union employees. I checked and everyone got the same package. We were paying union dues to make less money and benefits.
Musk said:
“Last year, Biden held an EV summit where Tesla was explicitly not allowed to come, but the [United Auto Workers] was. So, Tesla has made two-thirds of all the electric vehicles in the United States.”
“So, deliberately excluding us from an EV summit at the White House, but including UAW, tells you everything you need to know.”
“They have so much power over the White House that they can exclude Tesla from an EV summit… insane.”
“That’s some next-level insanity.”
During the interview, Musk Highlighted the financial bailout given to GM. He noted that Tesla did not take a bailout and had worked to pay interest on loans used to build his company. He used the example to highlight the government’s bias towards the unionized automaker giant.
He pointed out that the EV tax incentives given to the major automakers are not extended to Tesla either. He notes it as a significant tax advantage to other makers who have failed to capture the market share that Tesla has acquired during its existence.
