UAW Files Labor Charges Against Trump & Musk After Former President Praises Anti-Striking Stance

The United Auto Workers union filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against former President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk for publicly endorsing firing employees who threaten to strike and intimidating workers who go on strike during their Monday night interview on X.

During their two-hour interview, Trump praised Musk’s anti-union stance, calling him “the cutter.”

“I look at what you do, you walk in and you just say, ‘You want to quit?’ They go on strike – I won’t mention the name of the company – but they go on strike, and you say, ‘That’s okay, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. Every one of you is gone,” Trump said to Musk.

Musk responded with a laugh and said, “Yeah.”

Trump was referring to Musk’s 2022 mass layoffs at Twitter after taking over the company and renaming it X.

Under U.S. law, firing workers who threaten to strike is illegal, as the right to strike is protected by federal labor laws.

The UAW charges, filed separately against Trump and Musk on Monday, accuse the former president and the Tesla CEO of “interfering with, restraining or coercing employees” exercising their right to organize, and of “suggesting they would fire employees engaged in protected concerted activity, including striking.”

“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean.”

“Both Trump and Musk want working-class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal and totally predictable from these two clowns,” he added.

Musk is no stranger to labor disputes; Tesla has clashed with union advocates for years, and its workers remain non-unionized.

In 2021, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Tesla violated labor laws by firing a union activist. The board made a similar finding in 2018 after Musk tweeted, “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tomorrow if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing?”

The U.S. labor board has also accused SpaceX of illegally firing eight employees in retaliation for their internal open letter criticizing Musk and his public conduct.

However, Trump’s praise of union-busting is particularly significant as he seeks support from organized labor in the tight presidential race against Vice President Kamala Harris.

While the UAW, representing over 400,000 autoworkers, has already endorsed Harris, the Teamsters, another major U.S. labor union, have not yet made an endorsement.

In response to Trump’s remarks, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said on Tuesday, “Firing workers for organizing, striking and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism.”

In July, O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention to emphasize that the union’s influential endorsement was still up for grabs for any candidate committed to advocating for workers’ interests.

In response to the charges, the Trump campaign dismissed them as a political maneuver by “Democrat special bosses.”

“This frivolous lawsuit is a shameless political stunt intended to erode President Trump’s overwhelming support among America’s workers,” said Trump campaign Senior Adviser Brian Hughes in a statement.

“President Trump strengthened our economy and delivered results on behalf of the forgotten men and women of America, and he will do it again when he is re-elected on November 5,” he added.