03/29/2024

Democrats choose union over Tesla in California cap-and-trade deal

Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown are siding with organized labor in its battle with automaker Tesla, inserting a provision in last-minute legislation to spend $1.5 billion in cap-and-trade money.

The negotiated package largely spends funds on a variety of anti-pollution programs, such as those to retrofit and replace smog-belching big rigs and buses.

But the legislation, amended late Monday to be ready for votes before lawmakers adjourn for the year on Friday, also would inject the state into an increasingly acrimonious union organizing campaign at automaker Tesla’s Fremont plant. Beginning in July 2018, manufacturers that want to be eligible for state zero-emission vehicle rebates – a major driver of Tesla sales – would need to be certified by the state labor secretary “as fair and responsible in the treatment of their workers.

Clean vehicle rebates have helped put more than 100,000 vehicles on the road. Tesla buyers are eligible for rebates of up to $2,500, but that perk could be imperiled by the legislation’s worker-treatment language.

The United Auto Workers union has set out to organize thousands of Tesla workers, some of whom allege that the company had illegally intimidated them. The National Labor Relations Board’s Oakland regional office filed a complaint against the company late last month.

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