08/16/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 08/16/2024 12:49
The United Auto Workers (UAW) filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against former President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Aug. 13, after the far-right billionaire cronies discussed illegally intimidating workers on strike by advocating for firing them in a Monday night interview on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
It is a violation of federal labor law under the National Labor Relations Act to fire striking workers or threaten to fire them. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has jurisdiction over the complaint. Musk is already facing off with the NLRB in court in an attempt to block their enforcement actions against SpaceX, which he also owns, for a toxic work environment that includes sexism and harassment.
The Monday night interview openly displayed the lengths that the billionaire class will go to maintain their wealth and power and limit the power of the working class. Now, more than ever, we must stand up and fight back, from the picket lines to the ballot box.
"I look at what you do," said the former president. "They go on strike, I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you say, 'That's okay, you're all gone. You're all gone. So, every one of you is gone," he continued in his conversation with the owner of the social media platform.
In a statement from the UAW, President Shawn Fain called Trump a "scab" and said, "Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected. Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It's disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns."