Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Tesla filed a criminal complaint against a member of Germany’s IG Metall trade union, accusing them of trying to secretly record a meeting at the US carmaker’s factory near Berlin, according to an internal company memo.
The external IG Metall representative, who was participating in the meeting of Tesla’s works council on Tuesday as a guest, was spotted recording the gathering using their laptop computer, local company management said in the memo to staff.
The union member was excluded from the meeting — which had been convened to discuss issues affecting the 11,000 employees at the German factory — and police confiscated the computer, the memo, seen by the Financial Times, said.
Tesla management said in the written message to staff that the meeting of the works council on Tuesday was not conducted in public and the recording of non-public statements with a device was a crime under German law.
The IG Metall external representative accused of trying to secretly record the meeting was not named in the memo or by the union.
IG Metall’s group on the works council at the Tesla factory said in a statement that the claim in the company message that one of its members recorded the meeting was a “blatant and calculated lie”.
Tesla’s criminal complaint to the police was first reported by Reuters. Tesla Germany and the German police were not immediately available for comment.
The criminal complaint marks another escalation in tensions between local Tesla management in Germany and IG Metall ahead of key elections to the works council next month.
IG Metall, Germany’s powerful industrial union, is campaigning to gain control of the works council at what is Tesla’s only European factory.
The carmaker’s plant is the only vehicle factory in Germany where wages are not set through a collective bargaining agreement.
IG Metall failed to secure a majority on the works council in the last elections held in 2024, despite getting the most votes among employees. The workers’ body is led by a coalition of independent groups.
Gaining a majority on the works council would represent a step towards IG Metall’s aim to negotiate a pay deal for employees at Tesla’s German factory.
IG Metall accused Tesla of using the criminal complaint as an election manoeuvre. “Influencing elections with fabricated accusations reminds us of the tactics of authoritarian regimes,” regional IG Metall chief Jan Otto said.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, has been a staunch critic of unionisation. Tesla has been embroiled in a dispute with unions in Sweden since 2023 over its refusal to sign a collective bargaining agreement with mechanics. In the US it has been accused of alleged anti-union conduct.
Tesla’s German management has argued that a union-negotiated agreement on wages and working hours would undermine the company’s competitiveness at a time when many carmakers in the country are cutting jobs in response to high production costs.
André Thierig, manager of Tesla’s Germany factory, told the press agency DPA late last year that he could not “imagine that the decision makers in the USA will continue to push ahead with the expansion of the factory if the election results are majority in favour of IG Metall”.
Tesla’s clashes with unions come as it contends with declining car sales — particularly in Europe, where the company has suffered a backlash linked to Musk’s political activities and support for far-right parties such as Alternative for Germany.
Tesla lost its global crown as the biggest electric-car maker to Chinese manufacturer BYD last year, after the US company’s sales declined 9 per cent to 1.6mn vehicles.
The drop was even steeper for the European market, where Tesla sales fell 27 per cent to 239,000 units in 2025, according to ACEA, a European trade body for the car industry.
Currently, Tesla’s German factory produces about 5,000 units a week, according to statements from management, the equivalent of about 250,000 cars a year.
Read the full article here