Tesla targeted over Musk's workers' rights record
Paula Lacey in Glasgow
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This morning, a coalition of UK-based organsations took part in an ‘International Day of Action Against Billionaires’, targeting Tesla showrooms in Bristol, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Nottingham and Winchester.
Since February 2025, members of the decentralised Tesla Takedown movement have been peacefully protesting Tesla showrooms across the globe. Their aim is to tank the company’s sales and share price as a means of opposing founder and CEO Elon Musk’s bankrolling for authoritarians, disinformation and climate change.
‘From union-busting in Sweden to supporting Tommy Robinson and Germany’s AfD, Musk is meddling in politics around the globe,’ says Theodora Sutcliffe, an organiser of Tesla Takedown UK. ‘But Tesla shares are down more than 40% from their December peak, showing that protests work.’
Today's day of action saw Tesla Takedown UK join with Indivisible London - the UK arm of a grassroots movement founded in 2017 to oppose the first Trump administration - and the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents the rights of those working for the UK government in both civil service and private companies. In targeting Musk, these groups aim to jointly expose how his wealth and influence stem in large part from his disregard for unions, workers’ rights and workplace safety.
At Tesla’s Austin Gigafactory one in every 21 workers were injured on the job in 2022 alone, according to reports to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In April of this year, Tesla was found liable for ‘serious and wilful misconduct’ after a California worker's legs were crushed while performing a maintenance task that colleagues had flagged as dangerous. Musk’s recent appointment at the US Department of Government Efficiency has further illuminated his hostility to workers, with his cuts to federal spending seeing slews of public servants laid-off.
In making an example of Musk this May Day, groups drew on a rich history of labour organising to denounce the wealth of such oligarchs, built off the backs of workers. A statement released by the coalition explained that this exploitation is endemic to the world's richest companies: from Jeff Bezos sending Katy Perry into space while timing Amazon staff toilet breaks, to Mark Zuckerberg building an underground bunker in Hawaii as Facebook content moderators struggle with PTSD.
‘Musk is an unelected billionaire who has been allowed to completely dismantle government institutions that are vital for workers in the United States and around the globe,’ says Alyssa Elliott, an organiser with Indivisible London. ‘But labour movements have shown over and over again that the people have more power than the people in power, and now workers everywhere are uniting against the tech broligarchy.’
💰 We've had our eyes on Musk since back in 2018, as part of our ongoing scrutiny of the billionaires (we've even flirted with the idea of banning them entirely!)
📱 Follow the organisations involved in today's protest: Tesla Takedown, Indivisible London and the PCS union to keep up with future actions
📋 Learn more about Elon Musk's battle to erase workers' rights (and the long list of OSHA violations taking place in his companies)
✊ By far the most powerful way to fight oligarchy is to join your union and organise collectively against worker exploitation - we're stronger together!
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