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Cases filed against Tesla's Texas Gigafactory for labor, employment violations

Among the complaints are numerous subcontractors violating the workers' rights, wage theft, workplace injuries, OSHA violations and fraudulent OSHA certificates.

AUSTIN, Texas — Multiple workers at Tesla's Gigafactory in Austin have filed defense cases to the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for labor and employment violations while on the grounds, multiple filings state.

The Workers Defense Project is filing multiple complaints, one with OSHA and the other with the Wage and Hour Division, over allegations of labor and employment violations during the construction period of the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin. 

Among the complaints are numerous subcontractors violating the workers' rights, wage theft, workplace injuries, OSHA violations and fraudulent OSHA certificates for training that workers never received.

The Workers Defense Project stated that it opposed the Tesla site coming to Travis County in 2020 due to the "history of labor and employment abuses on Tesla sites." When the project moved forward, the group began advocating for workers' rights and independent monitoring through their Better Builder Program.

The group "rang the alarm that without strong health and safety protections and workers' rights, there was a high potential for worker exploitation on the site," its press release stated.

The Travis County Commissioners Court voted on the Tesla tax breaks within Austin and included some worker protections, but not all that were requested by the Better Builder Program. A key protection missing was the independent monitoring of the worksite to ensure all standards of safety were being followed. 

The types of violations that are being reported by workers are the types of violations "that were warned could happen without independent monitoring of standards during construction," the release states. 

All the identities of the workers have been redacted from the public pending the investigation by the DOL. 

The Workers Defense Project had a press conference regarding its filings outside of the DOL Wages and Hours Division Office in Downtown Austin on Tuesday. 

U.S. Congressman-elect Greg Casar, a longtime advocate for workers rights and protections, on Tuesday sid he supports a full investigation from the DOL.

“These worker reports of wage theft and safety violations at the Tesla Gigafactory site must be taken seriously and fully investigated,” said Casar, congressman-elect for Texas Congressional District 35, where the factory is located. “Every Texan has the right to a safe workplace. Every Texan has the right to be paid what they are promised.”

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