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United Auto Workers accuses Tesla CEO of breaking labor laws

The United Auto Workers union, or UAW, filed a complaint against Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk on May 23, accusing him of breaking national labor laws.

The complaint, filed with the National Labor Relations Board, alleges that Musk violated the National Labor Relations Act.

The complaint alleges that Musk threatened "to take away employee stock options in retaliation for Tesla employees engaging in protected union activity," and cites a tweet that Musk sent from his Twitter account.

The UAW noted in the complaint that the "tweet went out to Musk's 21.8 million Twitter followers, has been shared and republished by numerous individuals and media outlets, and remains publicly accessible at the time of this filing."

The union is seeking to represent workers at Tesla's Fremont, Calif. facility.

The UAW cited a tweet from Musk on May 20 in its complaint, in which he said there were no restrictions on Tesla workers to join a union, adding that they "could do so [tomorrow] if they wanted."

"But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when [the] plant was UAW and everybody already gets healthcare," Musk wrote in his post.

A Tesla spokesperson gave further details about the intent of Musk's tweet in response to a request for comment from S&P Global Market Intelligence on reports about the UAW's complaint.

"Elon's tweet was simply a recognition of the fact that unlike Tesla, we're not aware of a single UAW-represented automaker that provides stock options or restricted stock units to their production employees, and UAW organizers have consistently dismissed the value of Tesla equity as part of our compensation package," the Tesla spokesperson said.

He added that the company essentially believes it is "critical that all employees be owners of Tesla so that everyone is on the same team, with all sharing in the company's success."

In a separate tweet on May 23, Musk said that he has never stopped a union vote nor removed a union, charging that "UAW abandoned this factory [in Fremont]. Tesla arrived and gave people back their jobs. They haven't forgotten UAW betrayed them..."

During a press briefing in Detroit, UAW President Dennis Williams called Musk's comments "ridiculous," Reuters reported May 24.