Tesla’s Giga Berlin has emerged victorious in a dispute over works council elections, overcoming opposition from the labor union IG Metall. The court has ruled in favor of Tesla, allowing the company to hold elections within the previously set timeframe.
The works council elections at Giga Berlin are scheduled to take place in mid-March as originally planned, according to Juve. Tesla and the election commission have successfully won a fast-track trial before the State Labor Court in Berlin-Brandenburg. This comes after the labor court in Frankfurt an der Oder had previously halted the elections at the request of IG Metall, citing concerns that the elections were scheduled too quickly, making it challenging for the union to nominate candidates.
The upcoming elections are crucial due to the significant growth in Tesla’s workforce at Giga Berlin. While the first works council elections took place in February 2022 with only 2,600 employees, Tesla now employs approximately 12,500 people. The new works council will need to ensure adequate representation for the expanding workforce, with the number of council members set to increase from 19 to 39 after the elections.
The election commission, commissioned by the works council, had requested workers to submit their lists of candidates by February 15, aiming for elections to be held between March 18 and 20. Despite the council starting operations two weeks earlier, the court deemed this issue “not so serious that the election could be declared invalid.” As a result, the court’s decision paves the way for the works council elections to proceed as planned in March.
