Tesla Under Attack in Germany – Worker Complaints Real or Sabotage?

Tesla Under Attack in Germany – Worker Complaints Real or Sabotage?

The best solar company in Australia just installed my new solar system.

👇👇 Buy something and support The Electric Viking Store 👇👇

Size guide and other help for the store 👇

Join as a member in The Electric Viking YouTube►

Members-only videos (see videos before anyone else)►

See what happened to Shanna (Sam's wife):

The Electric Viking on other platforms:

👇 My Bali trip 👇
👇 Video about My Skateboard 👇

👇 Subscribe to my kids channel 👇

See more videos:
China’s EVs Will Crush Europe: 108 Factories at Risk!

World’s Best EV: BYD’s 5-Min Charge Beast unveiled!

Tesla’s Model Y Price Increase Stuns in China

Tesla Model Y Highland VS Xpeng G6 - which one is actually better...

Shocking reversal: 69% of 430,000 Germans Now Say Yes to Tesla

Man Tries to Burn Tesla Superchargers – Ends Up Setting Himself on Fire!

Ford CEO furious, says Trump’s insane Tariffs are Causing utter ‘Chaos’

UK firm recycles 97% lithium from old EV batteries using new method

Ford’s triples Mach-E EV sales, but demand for Gas Mustang crashes

EV sales break records in America - hit new highs in January

Sentiment in Germany’s auto industry hits record low; more factories shutdown

VW prepares to hand its German factories over to Chinese carmakers

Volvo rides skyrocketing EV sales surge to record global sales

Worlds biggest Electric Car winter range test in 2025 - 24 EVs compared

After profit crashes, Nissan now must triple profits to be saved by Honda

Nissan Leaf gets CRAZY $20,000 discount = like owning 4 Tesla powerwalls!

Ford’s Mustang Mach-E Outsells Gas Mustang as Ford's EV sales skyrocket

Why Ford, GM and Toyota just donated millions to Donald Trump

Ford breaks all time electric car sales RECORD in North America

Why the Japanese government is buying Chinese Electric Cars

Infiniti dealerships losing millions have started moving into Nissan dealerships

#tesla #germanycars #workers #complaint #sabotage #antitesla

👇Reference to the news/charts & videos used in this video:

This channel may use some copyrighted materials without specific authorization of the owner; but content used here falls under the “Fair Use” Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976.

Allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

Contact us for any copyright issues. If you want a credit of any footage we are using, please let us know.

[electricviking]

Click here to get a free charger and installation when pre-ordering the G6

The best solar company in Australia just installed my new solar system.
Check them out here:

[chadreshpatel]

You have to understand how Germany and in general Europe work. Here the workers are not slaves. You have to give sick days, vacation, and also wage rise. You can't fire people at will. You can't force them to work for more than 8 hours. You can't tell employees not to take any break whatsoever. Welcome to Europe.

[PropanePete]

Our son lives in Berlin. His friend was a technician at that plant and left last December. He said the management culture there is adversarial and he couldn’t work effectively in such a strained work environment anymore.

[ryancouture]

Are we seriously questioning whether or not Elon is a good boss…. The corporate culture at Tesla must be a nightmare.

[anotherelvis]

If you operate a factory in Germany, then you need to obey German rules. Otherwise go somewhere else.

[daniellarson]

I detect a slight bias against unions in this video. For the past 40 years or so right wing media has attempted and succeeded in creating this bias. This has resulted in an extreme benefit to those that own the production facilities. It is rather easy for employers to put fear into their employees. Most people just want to do their jobs and live their lives. I suspect those 3000 people have genuine grievances. Given the attitude displayed by Musk, there is considerable additional credibility to this idea.

[alldecentnamestaken]

The factory is in Germany and subject to German law. It doesn't much matter what someone else's opinion is of how things should be done or how things are done in other countries. Germany has some of the highest output per worker in the world so it's pretty tough to criticize how they do things unless you strictly want to maximize profit for the owner of the company.

[WalidDamouny]

Sam, you mock workers and unions like clockwork. The reason unions exist is because companies treat workers like crap and the unions are the only body that can push back against institutional exploitation. This thing about workers not having to work is something I've never seen, only heard about. I know people who are unionized workers, and your perception of unions is way off the mark.

[stratosphericozone]

I would say the best judge on whether Tesla are mistreating and intimidating their employees are the staff and 3000 have signed to confirm that yes they are. If Tesla has such a toxic culture towards their employees nobody has the right to besmirch their employees. Tesla get what they deserve. They should treat their employees right or get out of the country. Good on the union for supporting these workers.

[Midland_Wolf_]

I have no experience of Tesla as such but I do FULLY BELIEVE the accusations of intimidation. I worked for Amazon in the UK and I have never seen such a sh1tty company, I’d happily back the UK Gov’t in banning Amazon in GB (will never happen of course). The working practices of Amazon are abysmal. Most workers put up with it as they don’t know any better…..

They tried the bullying thing with me and I fought them legally for 6 months (they assumed I was stupid as I was on shop floor and I gave them a SHOCK). I won my case, only bringing in the union in the final stages, they didn’t have a leg to stand on and I could have really caused them some major problems had I been that way inclined. They don’t just skirt the law, they actively break UK employment law time and time again. They never bothered me again for the record, found new victims.

From what I hear of Tesla, I believe they’re better organised (Amazon Mgt is p1ss poor) but that it’s not a good company to work for.

AmeriKKKan corporaations taking the mick in GB, get tae feck, we don’t want your BS on our shores.

[StepDub]

The German workers sense that their careers in Tesla are probably coming to an end and want to work under decent conditions in the time they have left.

[Dinoso-cxqt]

I'm a German engineer working for another OEM and must say you are completely wrong about German unions.
1. Most protests against the Tesla factory came from the far right, who formed "environmental groups" and spread these false narratives about water consumption you are talking about. It had nothing to do with the unions, which were not involved in Tesla at that time. Be careful with spreading fake news from the far right yourself.
2. The unions in Germany are very constructive, at least in my company. They have a direct contact to the workers and the leadership supports their work to optimize working conditions. It is important that the workers don't hate their work, also for the leadership.
3. We have rules and laws in Germany, which are the same for all companies, also for Tesla. The problem with sick leaves rise, when the people hate their job. In our company, the rate of sick leaves is traditionally low, because the people care about our company. And the unions are a part of it.
4. High rate of sick leaves are not at all a problem of our economy in Germany. At the moment, we have an epedemy with Influenza, but normally this is lower than in other countries
5. When a doctor says you are sick, the company has no right to doubt this in the first step. That's the law and works well in all other companies. The company can go to court in case of doubt, but can not say we doubt this in general and only for our company, there are special rules.
All companies have to be treated equal, so nobody here will agree if Tesla will get an advantage by getting advantages.
This maybe works in the US, but here als workers have rights which are protected by law.

[franciscook]

You state, without quoting sources, that the Hambach mine uses 141 times the water that Tesla uses at its Giga factory. I cannot find figures to substantiate your claim (Tesla consumes about 500, 000 cu m/year). I note that a lot of the water usage at the mine is to maintain the water levels in the surrounding wetlands, so is largely recycled (pumped out of mine, pumped into wetlands, wetlands drain into mine), not for production. I note that the lignite mine at Hambach is scheduled to close in 2029 so there is little point in protesting about the water consumption there. It is scheduled to be turned into a vast lake and reforested area, likely with a pumped storage system associated with the lake, to help with the peaks and troughs of renewables (mainly wind and solar). These facts alone make a mockery of your ridiculous and defamatory claim that environmentalist are "paid saboteurs".
Absenteeism in the German car industry is around 5%. At Tesla in August 2024 it reached 17%. The company's response was, amongst other things, to send managers to worker's homes to check up on them. Elon Musk is known to be an awful boss. I have seen reports that people at SpaceX and Starlink are tasked with keeping Musk away from those that matter at the companies, in order to prevent the fallout that occurs (e.g. resignations, bad relations, ...) should Musk get to them. It is no surprise that Gigafactory Germany suffers from poor working conditions. Reputedly a petition for better working conditions garnered more than 3000 signatures from the workforce which, when you consider that that management style, as exemplified by the home visits, is at a minimum manipulative and most likely abusive, is a significant percentage. Many would be reluctant to put their name to such a petition for fear of reprisals.
The most likely scenario is that Musk has decided to run the factory like he runs other factories and ignore the different legal and social framework in Germany. Consequently, workers feel used and abused, get stressed out and need to take time off.

[vincenttayelrand]

Something eerily similar happened when Walmart tried to set up shop in Germany and failed miserably.

You can not transplant American business culture to Germany.

Companies like Ford and GM understood this, I doubt Tesla does.

[mariusj]

I really don’t get why Tesla—and so many in the U.S.—are so hostile toward unions. Europe has had strong unions for decades, and companies still thrive. The idea that unions make people lazy is just outdated nonsense. Yes, some people abuse the system, but that happens in any system. The difference is that in Europe, working people have time—to rest, to be with their families, to pursue hobbies, or even just think about life beyond surviving the next paycheck.

In the U.S., people often work long hours, sometimes two jobs, just to afford basic needs or healthcare. That’s not freedom—it’s survival. Europe may not squeeze every last drop of productivity out of each hour, but that’s the point: life isn’t supposed to be about working non-stop. It’s about living with dignity and depth. That only becomes possible when you’re not constantly worried about bills, health insurance, or job security.

People say “Americans make more money, ” but are they happier? Constant hustle with no safety net doesn’t lead to a meaningful life—it leads to burnout. Until people feel safe, they’ll always put money before meaning. That’s why unions—and the social protections they helped build—are so important.

[Typhoon]

Welcome to european and therefore german work ethics. Worker and Labor rights are an essential part of european culture and rule of law. If a company is disregarding or ignoring existing law, or is violating worker rights, they should'nt be surprised that employees take it to the streets, or straight up refuse to go to work. The same reason why Walmart for example didn't have success in germany, will have an impact on Tesla. You can not apply american "standards" and corporate practices in europe, without gettting into trouble. We are not pushovers and value our rights and no, we are not socialists, or even communist....just educated people with with a sense of dignity and self respect.

[seccat]

if the working conditions are SO GREAT, why are workers DREADING to go to work.

[TheLyinKing]

The complaints are real. IG metal is Germany’s largest union and Tesslar are failing to follow the law of the land.

[grahamkearnon]

Viking loves to paint unions as bad but, if you are a worker, having a voice on your side is essential in today's work place. An example, Amazon ware house gets a unionized workforce in quebec, Canada, Amazon closes all seven warehouses in quebec, 2000 unemployed. That's how little Bezos cares for his employees. Unions scare these billionaires.
It's an interesting watch as Elmo Musk destroys another business, first he ruined Twitter & now in the process of ruining Tesla, I guess the world has woken up to avoid his business. 9:50

[carstenkaiser]

It's a miracle that, although no one works, Germany exports goods and has a relatively larger industrial base than the USA. Unions and works councils actually exist in a functioning form. If Tesla had a union organization, it could even help analyze why sick leave is so high. This often works well.
Tesla pays below average with a higher workload and a higher number of workplace accidents. Higher workload and poor accident protection correlate well with higher sick leave.
Dissatisfaction with Tesla as an employer can be found even in Finland, the happiest country in the world.