The senators asked Tesla and a dozen other car manufacturers to pledge to not interfere with any efforts to unionize at their plants.
“We believe a neutrality agreement is the bare minimum standard manufacturers should meet in respecting workers’ rights, especially as companies receive and benefit from federal funds related to the electric vehicle transition,” the senators wrote.
“We believe the electric vehicle transition will not and cannot come at the expense of workers’ ability to form a union and collectively bargain for the fair wages,” they added.
The letter also expressed concerns about reports that some of the companies have “acted illegally to block unionization efforts.”
The letter follows an agreement between the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and automakers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis last year.
Following that agreement, the union said it would try to organize workforces at automakers that currently do not have unions.
The senators addressed their letter to the same 13 companies the union is targeting: BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
