Elon Musk is terrified of unions. And he should be

When Elon Musk appeared on the stage at The New York Occasions‘ DealBook Summit in November, columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin got here ready with quite a lot of questions. Nonetheless, after Musk blew up the information—and his social media website—by telling advertisers to “go fuck your self” once they ran away from his antisemitic statements, the remainder of the interview was largely ignored.

That’s unlucky as a result of there have been different issues that Musk mentioned that had been no less than as obnoxious as when he claimed folks had been making an attempt to “blackmail” him by not spending cash at X.

For instance, when Sorkin requested about unions, Musk fired again that he disagreed with the entire concept of unions, declaring that it “creates a lords and peasants type of factor.” The richest man on the planet is just not solely flawed; he is aware of he’s flawed. It’s the lack of unions that turns staff into peasants. And it is the lords who’ve a motive to be terrified of what unions can do.

This previous yr has seen three astounding wins for unions during which staff achieved critical victories over executives who had been making an attempt to destroy union energy. First, the Writers Guild of America gained an “distinctive” deal from studio bosses who began off making an attempt to starve them into give up. Proper behind them got here SAG-AFTRA, the place actors and crew fought off the rising use of AI and digital photographs, in addition to business modifications as a result of streaming, to attain a deal that gave the union each the pay and job protections it needed. Then the United Auto Staff scored an enormous victory over the “Huge Three” U.S. producers in October, making advances in compensation and employment safety that had been genuinely price celebrating.

Sadly, whereas 2023 is a standout yr for unions in current historical past, it’s a yr that stands out amongst many not-so-good years. Right here’s how union membership in america has modified over the previous a number of a long time.

Union membership has been declining because the Nineteen Eighties. This identical interval noticed the rise of so-called “right-to-work” legal guidelines designed to erode union bargaining energy and make organizing staff harder. Nonetheless, the decline of unions has not generated the legendary bonus for staff that many firms suggest of their anti-union rhetoric. The other has occurred.

As union membership declined, increasingly of the cash at firms was funneled away from the pockets of staff and straight into the vaults of executives. It’s not a matter of unions making a “lords and peasants type of factor.” It’s the dearth of unions that turns each employee right into a single, simply dismissed cog within the machine.

This relationship is an outdated one. When the Black Demise swept throughout Europe within the 1300s, the lack of inhabitants made it tough for feudal lords to keep up their territories. To safe their freedom, staff quickly joined guilds. These staff’ guilds remained robust for greater than two centuries, not solely creating the center class but in addition laying the stage for somewhat one thing referred to as the Renaissance.

Staff responded the identical manner following the Nice Despair. Organized labor led the way in which out of each the financial collapse and the primary Gilded Age. Right here’s yet another graph, this time from the U.S. Treasury Division:

Is that clear sufficient? When staff have the facility to prepare, more cash goes to staff and fewer piles up within the mansions of the ultra-rich. The destruction of unions that started within the Nineteen Sixties and kicked into excessive gear beneath President Ronald Reagan is straight answerable for impoverishing staff and offering huge sums to folks like Musk.

In a world the place union participation was excessive, there can be no Elon Musk. Not within the sense that he exists at present. That doesn’t imply there can be no Tesla or no SpaceX. It simply implies that the employees at these firms can be collaborating within the wealth that’s been generated, quite than having all of it go to a person who purchased Twitter so he may allow Nazis and convey extra consideration to his fart jokes.

Proper now, Tesla is battling unions in Sweden who wish to manage Tesla mechanics. That motion has been joined by staff at many alternative unions, making it tough for Tesla to import autos or to ship license plates to Tesla homeowners. These Swedish mechanics are additionally being supported by staff in Norway who’re blockading Tesla autos and provides. Danish dockworkers have signed on, refusing to unload shipments of Tesla’s vehicles.  

These might appear to be small nations, however they’re essential markets for Tesla. Norway and Sweden are each within the high 5 in relation to the share of electrical autos bought.

Musk is livid, and Tesla is making an attempt to sue everybody. Even the Swedish postal system.

However the reality is Musk can also be terrified. He’s terrified as a result of after successful their battle with different U.S. automakers, UAW chiefs have made it clear they’ve a brand new goal.

“To all of the auto staff on the market working with out the advantages of a union, now it is your flip,” UAW President Shawn Fain mentioned in a video posted on a web site urging auto staff to signal digital playing cards looking for union illustration.

Tesla lately managed to battle off an try to prepare staff at a plant in Buffalo, New York, a plant the place staff spend every day figuring out gadgets in photographs in an try to coach Tesla’s lately recalled Autopilot system. However the Nationwide Labor Relations Board did cite Tesla for violations of guidelines, together with actively soliciting grievances towards staff making an attempt to kind a union. Musk’s lengthy historical past of ignoring employee complaints contains leaving a whole lot of accidents off official studies and firing staff who stayed residence sick with COVID-19 despite the fact that the corporate had given these staff permission. It violated labor legal guidelines by stopping staff from discussing pay and advantages. And Musk has straight threatened staff that he would take away inventory choices in the event that they unionized.

As The Guardian notes, it’s Musk who makes the employees at his firms depressing, not unions. Tesla staff do get these small inventory choices. However they’re additionally paid $20 an hour lower than union staff at Ford, GM, or Stellantis—and that was earlier than the strike landed these union staff a 25% increase.

Staff at Tesla are undercompensated. Musk is overcompensated. The reason being that Musk retains these nonunion staff able the place they have to negotiate one-on-one. It’s not a lot lords and peasants as it’s Godzilla and the folks within the streets.

Musk has a proper to be afraid. As a result of when staff unionize, the bosses of the Gilded Age lose. And the unions are coming for Elon Musk.

Marketing campaign Motion

It is our final episode of the yr and we needed to speak about what we’re grateful for. It seems that Republican disarray and ineptitude topped our listing. Be a part of us to rely the methods!