“Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla,” wrote Musk in a leaked email shared by company shareholder Sam Nissim.
Though the email appears directed at the company’s white-collar workers across the globe, IG Metall, Germany’s largest trade union, opted to respond. In March, Tesla opened its first manufacturing plant in Europe, called Giga Berlin, in the German state of Brandenburg.
“In Germany an employer cannot dictate the rules just as he likes,” said Birgit Dietze, a regional IG Metall leader, in a statement. “A worker can rely on the strength and power of her or his union if she or he does not want to accept the demands of the company,” she added, recognizing the German constitution’s protections for labor organizing.
IG Metall represents metalworkers, including those working for other car makers like BMW and Volkswagen.
It seems like Birgit DID take some advice from Musk's tweet and is pretending the union's opinion actually still matters.
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