Nuked Tesla called back some of its workers and has completed around 200 model Y and model 3 vehicles, according to two current employees. This all happened as CEO Elon Musk threatened on Twitter to move Tesla’s operations out of state and sued Alameda County over its stay-home order order.
Tesla is also calling back workers that were placed on furlough last month. The company had previously only told certain workers to report back to the factory later this week.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Alameda County’s public health department declined to comment.
Tesla’s Fremont factory has been closed since March 23. The company had spent that time trying to convince local officials that auto manufacturing is’national critical infrastructure’.
Alameda county officials said they were engaged in a’collaborative, good faith effort to develop a safety plan that allows for reopening while protecting the health and well-being of the employees who travel to and from work at Tesla’s factory’.
Musk also threatened to move Tesla out of California because the plant would not reopen. Tesla sued the county over the stay-home order.
Tesla will move its HQ and future programs to texas/nevada immediately. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA..
Alameda county supervisor Scott Haggerty told the New York Times over the weekend that health officials and Tesla had been close to an agreement to reopen the plant on May 18th. Musk lashed out on Saturday on Saturday.
‘Tesla did a pretty good job, and that’s why I had it to the point where on May 18, Tesla would have opened,’ said Haggerty.
Musk has repeatedly underplayed the threat of covid-19. He told SpaceX workers in March that they were more likely to die in a car crash. He’s also called the stay-at-home orders’fascist’ and said they violate people’s constitutional rights.
The workers spoke to the verge about difficult decisions they made about whether or not they should report in this week. Since they are both hourly workers, they wo n’t be paid if they stay home. Tesla previously told its employees that they can use paid time off (PTO) days to stay home if they feel uncomfortable coming in.
