UAW Files Federal Labor Charges Trump, Musk for Union Intimidation Tactics

Following a livestream event on X (formerly known as Twitter) in which Elon Musk and Donald Trump talked about a variety of topics, the UAW has filed federal labor charges against them claiming remarks were made with an intent to threaten and intimidate union workers.

That sound you hear is TTAC tech staff, currently comprised of two dust bunnies and an underfed mouse, scrambling to bolster our servers for the expected deluge of comments on this story.

*Ed. note -- Please, please play nice in the comments. Not just on this one, but on every post.

https://x.com/UAW/status/1823343962012123254

At issue were statements made by Trump during the livestream and linked above through the platform owned by one of the two people being sued. The irony is not lost on us all.

“I mean, I look at what you do,” Trump told Musk. “You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.”

Them’s fighting words to the UAW.

“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. The union went on to remind people that, under federal law, workers can’t be fired for going on strike. Threatening to do so, they continue, is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act.

Just before calling Trump and Musk “these two clowns,” Fain said that Musk is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get [Trump] elected, though it is worth noting that figure is under much dispute. Musk himself alluded in mid-July to the $45M per month payment plan to a super political-action committee backing Trump. He later backed away from that statement about one week later, saying so in an interview with commentator Jordan Peterson and then following that up with a  message on his own platform. Whether this was a change of heart after looking at his bank account or the sudden realization that this was a meme-like commitment (Trump was this nations' 45th president) gone too far is up for debate.

It's all thorny. Meanwhile, our ragtag IT department stands ready to handle the comment section.

[Image: UAW]

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