Dive Brief:
- Tesla plans to raise wages 10% or higher for some hourly workers at its electric vehicle battery factory in Sparks, Nevada, according to internal materials viewed and first reported by CNBC.
- The automaker will increase wages from $20 to $22 per hour for employees at the bottom of the payscale, while high-wage workers will see their hourly rate i mprove from $30.65 up to $34.50, CNBC reported.
- Tesla will also adjust its payscale to raise wages for several other pay grades, which will result in multiple levels of workers earning $26.20 to $30.65 per hour getting bumped to $34.50 hourly, according to CNBC.
Dive Insight:
The news comes as non-union autoworkers attempt to organize Tesla and nearly a dozen other automakers in the U.S. after the United Auto Workers union won major concessions, including 25% wage hikes and the right to strike over plant closures, from General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis during labor negotiations this fall.
Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota are also raising wages for hourly workers in the U.S., as some experts predicted earlier this year. Raising wages and improving benefits and working conditions may help automakers, including Tesla, tamp down efforts to unionize workers at their plants.
The UAW and some non-union autoworkers, however, say some car companies, including Honda, Hyundai and Volkswagen, have retaliated against employees for attempting to organize their coworkers.
Labor unions are also attempting to organize some of Tesla’s operations in Europe. Last week, the electric automaker lost a legal dispute with Sweden’s postal service after it refused to deliver license plates to Tesla.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
