Elon Musk’s factory near Berlin has elected a new employee representative body. According to the first count, IG Metall is the largest group, but it does not have the majority.
After the works council election, the US electric car manufacturer Tesla reaffirmed its goal of working with the new employee representatives at the Grünheide plant near Berlin. “We will continue our successful cooperation with the works council,” said a spokeswoman. IG Metall is the largest group on the committee. However, the majority of seats went to non-union representatives. The new works council is expected to start work next week. Meanwhile, the court’s response to a police complaint against the decision that the protest camp in the forest near the plant can initially remain remains unclear.
According to company information, IG Metall has not expanded its influence over the number of seats. Almost 60 percent went to non-union lists, Tesla announced on Wednesday evening. Two years ago it was almost 53 percent. Of the 39 seats on the works council, 23 seats are on lists outside the union.
Minister praises interest
IG Metall is the largest group with probably 16 members. More than 12,000 employees were called to vote. It was the second works council election in billionaire Elon Musk’s factory. The first took place before the plant opened
Brandenburg’s Labor Minister Jörg Steinbach pointed out that there was great interest in the election. “The high voter turnout is a clear signal of the importance of co-determination at Tesla and the desire for employees to help shape working conditions.”
IG Metall is demanding better working conditions and commitment to a collective agreement. Tesla rejects a collective agreement and sees many of the union’s demands, such as occupational safety and better conditions for temporary workers, already being implemented. According to plant manager André Thierig, the company wants to offer annual wage increases.
Police complaint
Environmental activists have been protesting in the forest near the factory since the end of February against Tesla’s planned expansion of the site to include a freight station. For this to happen, the forest would have to be cleared. After a court decision, the protest camp with tree houses is allowed to remain for the time being. This causes contradictions among the Brandenburg police. She lodged a complaint against this with the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court. According to a court spokeswoman, no corresponding justification was received until Thursday. The police have one month to do this after the complaint has been lodged.
Amended development plan
The amended development plan for the expansion plans has been publicly available as a draft in the Grünheide municipal office from Thursday until April 4th. According to Mayor Arne Christiani, it contains information from the population, the majority of whom voted against clearing over 100 hectares of forest in order to expand the factory in a resident survey. The documents were also published on the municipality’s website.
Tesla wants to build a freight yard and warehouses next to the factory site. According to the company, the station should mean that fewer trucks are on the road. In view of the resistance, Grünheide suggested only clearing 50 hectares of forest instead of around 100 hectares. They are included in the amended development plan.
“I hope for timely statements and information on the B-Plan, also with special consideration of important infrastructure projects such as State Road 386 and the station forecourt with parking garage,” Christiani told the German Press Agency. All of these measures would have to be implemented by mid-December 2026. In response to the new draft of the development plan, the Grünheide citizens’ initiative said that the new interpretation was “old wine in new bottles”.
Source: Stern
