Elon Musk, Donald Trump Hit With Federal Labor Charges For Union Busting Comments

Shawn Fain and the United Auto Workers union filed an unfair labor practices charge against Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s campaign on August 13. The move comes after the gruesome twosome advocating for firing striking employees during an interview on X.

Walter Isaacson On Elon Musk(s)

Firing striking employees or threatening to do so is – of course – illegal and a violation of the National Labor Relations Act, according to Politico. The comments and NLRB complaint could not come at a worse time for Trump, who trying to make inroads with rank-and-file union members despite most major unions – including the UAW – endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President.

Now, the matter is in the hands of the NLRB. They’ll investigate the UAW’s complaint, and then they’ll decide whether to move forward if it finds that the charge has merit.

Here’s what Trump said during his bizarre and rambling call with Musk, according to Politico:

“They go on strike, I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, ‘That’s OK, you’re all gone,” Trump said in the Monday interview with Musk, who also owns the social media platform. “You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.”

Here’s more on the backlash the two have faced since the comments were made, as well as some of the barbs Trump has thrown at Fain. From Politico:

UAW President Shawn Fain called Trump a “scab” in a statement attacking him for siding with Musk, who is contributing to a super PAC supporting Trump’s bid for the White House.

“Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns,” Fain said.

Trump has likewise attacked Fain and other union leaders, saying members should defy them and vote to return him to the White House.

This is not Musk’s first run-in with the NLRB. He’s currently battling with The Board in federal court in an attempt to block it from carrying out enforcement actions against one of his companies, SpaceX. In response, SpaceX filed a suit claiming the NLRB’s authority and administrative proceedings were unconstitutional, CNBC reports.

Back in 2021, the NLRB found that Tesla violated labor laws when it fired a union activist, according to CNBC. The board had made the same finding after Musk tweeted in 2018, “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?”

It’s been a busy few days for Donald Trump. We just found out he was using his old friend Jeff Epstein’s plane for campaign stops, he shat on EVs even though Elon Musk is supporting him, and he mixed up which black politician he was with during a near-death helicopter crash.