A federal appeals court just decided that Tesla can lawfully ban its employees from wearing pro-UAW shirts at work. The ruling reverses an earlier decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and puts to bed an issue that started back in 2017. Employees still have at least one way to show support for the union at work though.
Back in 2017, the UAW was pressing hard to organize employees at Tesla’s California factories. Some wore pro-UAW shirts to work and then Tesla stepped in to institute a new policy requiring “team wear”, black shirts with Tesla logos on them. It claimed that the union shirts were potential sources of damage during the production process.
The NLRB ruled that the move was illegal but Tesla appealed it and now won in federal court. The 5th Circuit Judge hearing the case specifically ruled that it wasn’t illegal because Tesla only prohibited shirts and not all union insignia. They even went as far as to say that Tesla didn’t necessarily need a reason to impose a dress code policy. Tesla continues to allow workers to wear pro-union stickers. The court pointed out that workers can “affix any number or size of union stickers to their team wear.”
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In part, the court’s ruling stated “We agree with Tesla… The NLRA does not give the NLRB the authority to make all company uniforms presumptively unlawful. We grant Tesla’s petition for review, deny the NLRB’s application for enforcement, and vacate the Board’s decision.”
The ruling comes as the UAW appears to be building steam for another fight with Tesla in the near future. After obtaining record-setting contracts at the big three earlier this year, UAW President Shawn Fain has openly stated that he’s coming not just for Tesla but for other production facilities in the U.S. run by Honda and Toyota. In case that wasn’t enough, President Joe Biden himself said that he openly supports the UAW’s intent to unionize at Tesla.
