Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) did not violate federal labor law when it prohibited workers at its flagship plant in California from weaning pro-union shirts, according to a federal appeals court ruling.
The US 5th Circuit Court said Tuesday that Tesla’s policy that employees wear company issued shirts was lawful because it still allowed workers to wear pro-union stickers.
The New Orleans-based appeals court reversed a decision by the National Labor Relations Board, which found that any attempt to prohibit union apparel was unlawful except in cases where it impacted worker safety.
Tesla established its company uniform policy in 2017 during an organizing campaign by the United Auto Workers union, according to reports. The UAW has accused Tesla of using illegal union-suppressing tactics.
Now, the UAW is in focus again after reaching tentative deals with the big three Detroit automakers following a six-week targeted strike.
The union has said that intends to organize at non-union plants across the US, and President Biden expressed support last week for its efforts to organize workers at Tesla and Toyota.
Meanwhile, the court is also considering whether CEO Elon Musk violated federal law by tweeting in 2018 that workers would lose their stock options if they joined a union.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel