Labour dispute: up to 350 workers walk off Tesla Gigafactory site

According to local reports, at least 100, and possibly up to 350 construction workers at the Tesla Gigafactory site in Nevada walked off the job yesterday as part of a labour union protest. The protest comes from a labour union claiming that Tesla is outsourcing construction jobs to a non-union contractor; given that Tesla receives around $1.4bn in tax incentives from the State, the union feels that jobs should be kept for local, Nevada-based workers.

Construction site of Tesla's new "Gigafactory" near Reno, Nevada. Bob Tregilus

Construction workers at the Tesla Gigafactory site near Reno, Nevada, walked off the job Monday, local news station KOLO reported.

As part of the protest, an estimated 350 local workers left their jobs, leaving about 60 laborers still working on-site. Bloomberg later reported only 100 took to the protest.

The protest came from a local labor union that is against Tesla outsourcing some of its jobs to a third-party nonunion contractor, Brycon Construction.

Given the $1.4 billion in tax incentives that the car company received to build its factory, union workers feel the jobs should be kept for local construction workers in Nevada.

"Today's activity stems from the local Carpenters Union protesting against one of the third party construction contractors that Tesla is using at the Gigafactory," a Tesla representative told Business Insider.

"Their issue is not with how Tesla treats its workers. Their issue is that of the many third party contractors that are involved in the construction of the Gigafactory, many are union but the one at issue is not."

Nevada requires that at least 50% of employees to be from the state; Tesla argues it well exceeds that number.

"The union is also claiming that this contractor is somehow favoring out of state workers," the Tesla representative added. "In reality, more than 50% of the workers used by this contractor and more than 75% of the entire Gigafactory workforce are Nevada residents, demonstrating the project’s strong commitment to Nevada."

Brycon Construction could not be reached for comment.