By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock traded 0.4% lower in premarket Thursday after CEO Elon Musk said he is open to the United Auto Workers union holding a vote about organizing labor at the company, a move he has long resisted.
“I’d like hereby to invite UAW to hold a union vote at their convenience. Tesla will do nothing to stop them,” Musk tweeted late Wednesday.
He has taken aim at the UAW on several occasions earlier.
“Tesla factory worker compensation is the highest in the auto industry,” The Wall Street Journal quoted Musk as saying earlier.
Workers at Tesla, America’s largest car company by market cap, aren’t currently unionized, and the EV-maker has rarely found mention in President Joe Biden’s statements, who otherwise refers to General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Ford (NYSE:F) whenever the need arises. Notably, EVs contribute a fraction to the revenue of the two legacy automakers.
Tesla stock is also under pressure today due to another reason. The company and the CEO face trial on charges that Musk's 2018 pay package was excessive and that the board’s authorization was a breach of its fiduciary duty. The trial will commence at the Delaware Court of Chancery on April 18.
In another development, a positive one, the German state of Brandenburg has called a news conference for Friday at which it will announce its approval to the planned Tesla gigafactory near Berlin.
Earlier, Handelsblatt said the company has secured the approval for the gigafactory.
The decision does not mean Tesla can start car production immediately, the business daily said, pointing to a recent statement by the state environment ministry that the developer needs to fulfill more requirements before the plant can start.