FRANKFURT/BERLIN, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Tesla has filed a criminal complaint against a member of Germany’s IG Metall trade union for secretly recording a works council meeting that took place at its plant near Berlin on Tuesday, according to a memo to staff seen by Reuters.
Tesla confirmed the contents of the memo, which marks the latest low point in a fraught relationship between IG Metall and the U.S. electric vehicle maker.
The external IG Metall member at the meeting had attended as a guest and then started recording with his computer, Andre Thierig, manager of Tesla’s Gruenheide plant, said in the memo.
Tesla said that a works council meeting is a non-public event and that recording it constituted a criminal offence.
IG Metall described Tesla’s statement as a “calculated lie” ahead of works council elections scheduled for March, repeating that plant management wanted to keep the union at bay in favour of an obedient labour representation.
At the last works council elections two years ago, the majority of Tesla’s staff in Germany decided against the IG Metall Union and opted for non-unionised workers for the new works council.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Christina AmannEditing by David Goodman and Nick Zieminski)
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