Union Vaccine: Elon Musk Promises Free Frozen Yogurt and Roller Coasters to Employees

With his employees showing a growing interest in unionization, Tesla CEO Elon Musk shot off a lengthy email to staff urging them to forgo joining the United Auto Workers. While the UAW has romanced Tesla’s growing workforce for years, a recent — and highly publicized — blog post written by an employee expressed renewed concern over the company’s treatment of its workforce, as well as his hope to see them join the labor federation.

Musk initially reached out to the press to defend his company and is now appealing to workers directly, refuting allegations about subpar wages and condemning an earlier investigation into worker safety. “After looking into this claim, not only was it untrue for this individual’s team, it was untrue for any of the hundreds of teams in the factory,” he wrote.

In the email, initially acquired by Electrek, Musk refutes all of the complaints made against his company in the aforementioned blog post. Regarding workplace safety, the email posits that incidents have dropped dramatically since January 1st. Musk cites a total recordable incident rate under 3.3, which he claims is less than half the current industry average of 6.7. “Of course, the goal is to have as close to zero injuries as humanly possible, so we need to keep improving,” Musk added.

As for renumeration concerns, the email reminded readers that Tesla factory workers earn equity and, over a four-year period, would earn “between $70,000 and $100,000 more in total compensation than the employees at other U.S. auto companies.” Musk even went so far as to calculate the average earnings from other domestic automakers (after union dues).

The message’s tone, while serious, remains extremely positive throughout. The final lines are given the subheading of “fun” and include the prospect of free frozen yogurt and roller coasters once the company approaches profitability, before concluding with a smiley emoticon:

“As we get closer to being a profitable company, we will be able to afford more and more fun things. For example, as I mentioned at the last company talk, we are going to hold a really amazing party once Model 3 reaches volume production later this year. There will also be little things that come along like free frozen yogurt stands scattered around the factory and my personal favorite: a Tesla electric pod car roller coaster (with an optional loop the loop route, of course!) that will allow fast and fun travel throughout our Fremont campus, dipping in and out of the factory and connecting all the parking lots. It’s going to get crazy good 🙂”

Keeping employees happy is essential right now, as Tesla prepares to begin production on the oh-so-important Model 3. Production targets are lofty and schedules are exceptionally tight; a suddenly disenfranchised or adversarial labor force could have devastating ramifications.

[Image: Steve Jurvetson/ Flickr ( CC BY 2.0)]