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Some Tesla Workers Still Concerned at Partially-Reopened Plant (cnn.com) 49

"We have met with Tesla representatives and have confirmed that Tesla is not engaged in full operations, contrary to media reports" this week, read an announcement Wednesday from Alameda County's office of emergency services in its health care services agency. ("Tesla has confirmed that its operations require a substantial lead time to become fully operational, and their current operations are only slightly above Minimum Business Operations.")

But some Tesla workers are still concerned, reports CNN: "I don't feel Elon has those Tesla workers' best interest in his heart. That's my opinion," said Branton Phillips, a material handler for Tesla's production control in the Freemont factory.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment... To keep factory workers safe, Tesla said it will take employees' temperatures, reduce the number of people working particular shifts, distribute protective equipment, regularly clean the factory and enforce social distancing. Phillips said he's concerned the company's safety protocols will be insufficient.

"This is going to be a monumental undertaking," the material handler said. "And I'm sure they're trying their best. It's just not going to be completely possible to completely social distance. That is just going to be a fact." Phillips believes that many other employees share his concerns. However, Phillips plans to return to work Monday when the factory reopens. He said he needs to make a living.

"Just wanted to send you a note of appreciation for working hard to make Tesla successful," Musk said in an email to employees. "It is so cool seeing the factory come back to life and you are making it happen!!" Business Insider quotes him as saying.

"Workers who spoke to Business Insider's Linette Lopez and Mark Matousek ahead of Tesla re-opening the Fremont factory said they feared for their jobs if they didn't report for work." One employee said they were told by the company they wouldn't receive benefits if they didn't come back to work, and would be unable to apply for unemployment. Another said they were told their furlough status would change.
"Many of the workers are older men with pre-existing health conditions," points out an announcement from the county's office of emergency services in its health care services agency, "and many are African American and Latinx... these groups are at higher risk in terms of impact/deaths..."
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Some Tesla Workers Still Concerned at Partially-Reopened Plant

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  • Alternative? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by grasshoppa ( 657393 )

    To keep factory workers safe, Tesla said it will take employees' temperatures, reduce the number of people working particular shifts, distribute protective equipment, regularly clean the factory and enforce social distancing.

    That seems pretty comprehensive. What's the alternative? Stay home until we have a "cure"? That's a stand-in for never reopening, and if you fear the potential of the virus enough to keep everything closed down indefinitely, you have no concept the kind of damage a depression can do.

    Good news on that second front, if that's your problem; you'll soon get ringside seats to that show. A year from now, maybe two, you're going agree with the rest of us that shutting down was the single biggest mistake in hum

    • Just stay home until after the election in November. The whole point is "kill the economy to kill Trump". Various folks have been crying on TV hoping for a recession for a couple of years. Not news.
      • I have never heard that idea, but I wouldn't put it past anyone. Poe's law. Kill the economy, and ruin everything, as long as your team wins. Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven. Unfortunately, I think Milton meant that as a warning that it isn't.
        • The only thing like that I recall is that some years ago during one of his shows Bill Maher said he hoped for a recession, but I imagine he was being flippant. I doubt anyone wants one, but as the saying goes “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste.” Maybe there’s some nutter that really does want that, but I’m not going to pay them any more mind than someone carrying on about Bigfoot.
      • by gtall ( 79522 )

        Nah, the alleged president is shooting his re-election chances in the feet all by himself.

    • Re:Alternative? (Score:4, Informative)

      by mspohr ( 589790 ) on Saturday May 16, 2020 @10:45AM (#60067318)

      Tesla has been running it's China Gigafactory at full speed for the past few months with comprehensive virus safety testing and protective procedures. I think they have proven that they know how to do this.

      • You cannot really compare what the people in China will do to what people in the U.S. will do though.

        Just compare the differences in behavior. The people in China are willing to wear masks and they obeyed govt stay-at-home and self-quarantine orders for months.

        Now look at people in the U.S. Half the people don't/won't wear masks (from my observations) and probably just as many ignore stay-at-home orders because being told to do so is fascist and against their constitutional rights.

        • by mspohr ( 589790 )

          While I do understand that China has many advantages over the US, I think we need to consider that Tesla controls the workplace and can mandate testing, fever detection, separation, cleaning and facemasks as it has done in China as a condition of coming to work. (This is something that Amazon employees have been demanding for months but Amazon just doesn't care.)

  • Welcome to capitalism. Hold your applause until the end.

    • by MrKaos ( 858439 )

      Welcome to capitalism. Hold your applause until the end.

      They could complain to the Union...

    • It seems his priority IS his workers; I've heard him talk about wanting to be able to continue to pay his workers.

      Sure, he may have selfish interests too, but that doesn't negate what appears to be genuine concern for his employees.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Is Tesla so short of cash that he couldn't keep paying workers for another week or two while shut down?.

  • He's about to get fired. Can anyone help him out?
  • Full disclosure? (Score:4, Informative)

    by prisoner-of-enigma ( 535770 ) on Saturday May 16, 2020 @10:44AM (#60067310) Homepage

    "I don't feel Elon has those Tesla workers' best interest in his heart. That's my opinion," said Branton Phillips, a material handler for Tesla's production control in the Freemont factory.

    I'd be very curious if the employees who are most vocal about this are also the same ones agitating for Tesla to be unionized. Funny how nobody in the press asks this rather pertinent question.

    Oh wait...a quick Google search reveals Mr. Phillips is not just a Tesla employee...he's an organizer [equaltimes.org] and union activist! That couldn't possibly taint his "opinion" in this matter, could it? Nah, that's just crazy talk.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • by jwymanm ( 627857 )
        No I imagine they are paid off or plants. Maybe a few were actually damaged somehow by companies when they got ill. If you don't like your job get another. Fuck unions.
      • Do you think people decide to try to unionize for the sheer hell of it?

        Do you think people never decide to unionize because the rampant success of a startup automaker that's not unionized could threaten the UAW in cataclysmic way? The UAW has a complete stranglehold on the Big Three automakers, chanting the mantra that unionization is their key to "succeeding", that automaking is "impossible" without the UAW. I can't imagine a bigger threat to that narrative than Tesla, a disruptive company that's so popular people are lined up to apply for jobs there.

        Unions have a long hist

  • by AlanObject ( 3603453 ) on Saturday May 16, 2020 @10:56AM (#60067352)

    contrary to media reports

    Wow like how is that possible.

  • ... Musk has put a safety plan in place to protect his workers. If that plan is inadequate, the Tesla plant should not reopen. If California's weed shops' plans aren't more rigorous* than Musks, they should be shut don as well.

    *Much more. Those shops are accessible to the public. The Tesla plant is only accessible to a restricted set of people.

    • How do you define adequate? If 100 people get COVID out of 10,000, and one dies, is that adequate safety? What about 10 cases but still one death?

      The goal is to reduce risk; you cannot completely eliminate it.

      • by PPH ( 736903 )

        How do you define adequate?

        That's up to the state. Either way, both cases you cited have the same outcome: one death. If that is the key decision making statistic, then Tesla should be able to track it easily. Because they know who works with who and can track contacts. With pot shops, it's no so easy. Because the customers disappear into the general public. And a requirement to record all contacts is likely going to get a lot of pushback (pot still being illegal at a federal level and one's name on a list could forfeit future federa

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • What's a Latinx? Is it a big wild cat or a Mexican with a bad cough?
  • Is there any workplace in which every single employee feels it's entirely safe to work in at this point?

    • Is there any workplace in which every single employee feels it's entirely safe to work in at this point?

      My home office is completely safe for me to work in. Unfortunately, my boss's boss (possibly his boss, but we don't know since he's not sharing information) is a moron who wants everyone back into our multi-person confined space Monday morning.

  • Just to rain on the whole parade of people making variants of the claim "You're more likely to die of x than COVID", here's some actual numbers (see page 6 of the pdf):

    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/... [cdc.gov]

    COVID is nearing 90,000 deaths in 3 months, and generally expected to have hit 140,000+ after 6. In three months, we're already at 1.5 years worth of flu and pneumonia, a year's worth of diabetes, or 6 months worth of all accidental deaths combined. At the current rate, COVID will shoot up to the #3 cau

It is contrary to reasoning to say that there is a vacuum or space in which there is absolutely nothing. -- Descartes

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