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Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Monday he is willing to go to jail and make himself a martyr to the cause of opening up his company’s electric car plant in Fremont in defiance of the shelter-in-place order that is meant to contain the spread of coronavirus across Alameda County and the Bay Area.
Musk went on Twitter Monday afternoon to say that he was going to be on the factory floor with Tesla employees as work started up at the production facility, and, in effect, challenged Alameda County officials to a showdown over what he considers an improper act that has kept Tesla from manufacturing its vehicles since the shelter-in-place edict went into effect almost two months ago.
“Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules,” Musk tweeted. “I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”
Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2020
As automakers in Michigan have begun taking tentative steps to resume vehicle production, Musk expressed his frustration over what he said were county officials keeping Tesla employees from getting back on the job while the company got the green light to re-start its assembly lines from the state of California. Tesla employs approximately 10,000 workers in Fremont.
“Yes, California approved (re-opening), but an unelected county official illegally overrode.,” Musk tweeted. “Also, all other auto companies in US are approved to resume. Only Tesla has been singled out. This is super messed up!”
Yes, California approved, but an unelected county official illegally overrode. Also, all other auto companies in US are approved to resume. Only Tesla has been singled out. This is super messed up!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2020
A Tesla employee, who said she was scheduled to go back to work at the Fremont plant on Wednesday, confirmed that workers had begun returning to the facility Monday. Tesla didn’t respond to a request from this news organization for details about how many people would be returning to work this week.
Musk’s tweets about Tesla re-opening its plant on Monday came shortly after Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed the matter at his daily noontime COVID-19 press conference. Newson said he believed that Alameda County officials and Tesla had held “some very constructive conversations” focusing upon the health and safety of Tesla employees prior to their returning to work.
“My belief and hope and expectation is that as early as next week, they will be able to resume (operations),” Newsom said. “I’m certainly encouraged by what I am hearing.”
The drama between Musk and Alameda County ratcheted up over the weekend when the Tesla boss said his company had filed suit in U.S. District Court, and charged the county with violation of due process by keeping Tesla from manufacturing its Model 3, Model S, Model X and Model Y vehicles at its plant in Fremont. Musk tweeted that “The unelected & ignorant ‘Interim Health Officer’ of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!”
The suit itself alleges that “Alameda County’s power grab not only defies the governor’s orders, but offends the federal and California constitution.”
Musk went to call the county’s measure “the final straw” and said Tesla would immediately move its headquarters to either Nevada or Texas. Musk went on to say that as Tesla is the last company building cars in California, remaining in the state would depend on “how Tesla is treated in the future.”
Alameda County District 1 Supervisor Scott Haggerty said Monday that the dispute between Tesla and the county was “unfortunate,” and that he had been working with the company for the last three weeks in order to reach a resolution that would be responsive to the reality of coronavirus’ impact upon society.
“This is not about just Tesla, but all businesses,” Haggerty said. “Mom and pop stores and large manufacturers. We need to work with COVID-19 and not hide from it, because it’s not going away. But, people can’t stay out of work, either.”
The brouhaha over Tesla’s re-opening plans involved personal insults, too, as a state assemblywoman had a specific four-letter-word reply for Musk and his intentions.
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat from San Diego, went on Twitter, Saturday night and tweeted out, “F*ck Elon Musk” in response to Musk’s re-opening plans and Tesla’s suit against Alameda County.
F*ck Elon Musk.
— Lorena Gonzalez (@LorenaSGonzalez) May 10, 2020
Gonzalez went on to express her frustration with the state of California’s relationship with Tesla, and the company, for how she believes it has treated workers and conducted certain aspects of its business.
“California has highly subsidized a company that has always disregarded worker safety & well-being, has engaged in union busting & bullies public servants,” Gonzalez tweeted. “I probably could’ve expressed my frustration in a less aggressive way. Of course, no one would’ve cared if I tweeted that.”
California has highly subsidized a company that has always disregarded worker safety & well-being, has engaged in union busting & bullies public servants. I probably could’ve expressed my frustration in a less aggressive way. Of course, no one would’ve cared if I tweeted that.
— Lorena Gonzalez (@LorenaSGonzalez) May 10, 2020
Gonzalez, who is the author of the state’s AB5 law that is meant to make it more difficult for companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees, went on to tweet that her sentiments were also fueled by how coronavirus has affected California’s Latino population.
“And the “deaths from Covid-19 in California are disproportionately Latino. Our communities have been the hardest hit. By far. Maybe that’s why we take the public health officials’ warning and directions so seriously,” Gonzalez tweeted.
And, the deaths from Covid-19 in California are disproportionately Latino. Our communities have been the hardest hit. By far. Maybe that’s why we take the public health officials’ warning and directions so seriously.
— Lorena Gonzalez (@LorenaSGonzalez) May 10, 2020
For his part, Musk didn’t ignore Gonzalez, tweeting the reply of “Message received.”
Message received
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2020
Gonzalez’s office in San Diego didn’t answer a call for further comment on the Tesla matter.
Musk and Tesla have been at odds ever since the shelter-in-place order went into effect in Alameda County, and across several Bay Area counties, on March 16. The order allows for essential businesses such as grocery stores and medical facilities to remain open. Tesla originally kept its plant running, but suspended car manufacturing operations on March 23.
Since then, Musk has used a conference call with Wall Street analysts to call the shelter-in-place orders “fascist,” tweeted that governments need to “give people back their freedom,” and said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that the coronavirus crisis is “practice” for the next pandemic that he suggested would result in more deaths than the current outbreak.
U.S Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin gave his support to Musk on Monday. Speaking during an interview on CNBC, Mnuchin called Musk “one of the biggest employers and manufacturers in California,” and said the state “should prioritize doing whatever they need to do to solve those health issues so that he can open quickly and safely.”
