Tesla Workers Say Twitter Shadowbanned Their Union Account
According to VICE News, Tesla workers at the Buffalo Gigafactory have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing Twitter of "spying" on their new union account. The group announced its intention to merge on February 14 with a public statement on Twitter about "finding a voice in the workplace". However, the group's tweets disappeared from search results the next day, indicating that their account had been suspended.
In February 2023, following the announcement of a union campaign by Tesla Gigafactory 2 workers, the aforementioned employer, through CEO Elon Musk and/or his agents and representatives, suspended the union's Twitter account (@united_tesla). from the Twitter page,” the group said in a statement to the NLRB, according to Workers United, the union backing the campaign.
If you search for "united_tesla" or "TeslaWorkersUnited", we've made sure that tweets posted by this account don't appear in the results. Normally, when you search for a user, their tweets will appear, but if you use these search terms, you will only see results related to the group or mentions of their name. A spokesperson for one of the groups told VICE News that they conducted an undercover audit and found that her account had been flagged as a "prohibited search link" on a site owned by her employer.
Tesla boss Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last year, is considered a staunch critic of the union. In 2018, he tweeted that nothing would stop Tesla from forming a union. Then someone asked about reports that the company had come into conflict with the union leadership. But he also asked, "[Why] pay union dues [and] give away stock options for free [?]." If they were unionized, they would pay for stock options. And now that Tesla is appealing the working committee's decision, we've asked Musk to remove the tweet, which he has yet to do.
The people behind this particular campaign are responsible for data labeling Tesla's Autopilot technology. They previously told Bloomberg that they want the company to improve not only salaries but also working conditions. They also accused the company of illegally firing its workers "in retaliation ... and union activity." .
Tesla said in a blog post that this was a "false claim" and that Autopilot's laid-off employees were below par. Tesla said it "didn't show enough progress" despite receiving feedback. In addition, the company plans to fire the group in February. 3, tries to form a union well before announcing it. The automaker also said it only implemented a time monitor "to calculate how long it takes to tag an image," so "delaying a bathroom break doesn't do anything." I can't believe it," he said.