Tesla Workers in California Seek Safety Plan, Clarity on Pay

A group of Tesla Inc. workers in California have asked the electric car maker’s board to provide a plan to address employee safety and information on pay and promotion.

The worker group, which hopes to become part of the United Automobile Workers union, said Tesla had a safety record worse than that of “sawmills and slaughter houses.”

“We’re tired of suffering preventable injury after preventable injury,” Michael Catura, a Tesla production associate, said in a statement.

The group also asked for clarity around Tesla’s compensation practices.

Starting pay at Tesla’s Fremont, Calif., auto factory was $18 per hour, far below the national average for auto workers, the worker group said.

Chief Executive Elon Musk said in late July that the company is going to go through at least six months of “manufacturing hell” as it ramps up its efforts to produce 500,000 cars per year, close to six times its 2016 output.