Elon Musk blasts workers’ unions, says Democrat party is union-controlled

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk lashed out at workers’ unions this week, saying Democrats are controlled by unions more than people realize.

Speaking in an interview with the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley club, Musk railed against unions and the Democrats at length, saying the relationship between unions and the Democrat party is obvious. “The general public is not aware of the degree to which unions control the Democratic Party. One does not need to speculate on this point,” Musk said.

He continued, “Last year, Biden held an EV summit where Tesla was explicitly not allowed to come, but the [United Auto Workers] was.” Musk appeared to blame UAW’s relationship with Democrats for the alleged favoritism. “Tesla has made two-thirds of all the electric vehicles in the United States. So, deliberately excluding us from an EV summit at the White House — but including UAW — tells you everything you need to know,” Musk said.

UAW has historically had a strong relationship with both Republicans and Democrats, and has been known to exercise its lobbying influence over both parties. 

Musk has repeatedly claimed his companies, SpaceX and Tesla, are not unionized because his workers are happy and have many other job opportunities available to them if they are not. “Our real challenge is Bay Area has negative unemployment, so if we don’t treat and compensate our (awesome) people well, they have many other offers and will just leave!” Musk Tweeted in March. He then invited the UAW to hold a vote to unionize at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California. “I’d like hereby to invite UAW to hold a union vote at their convenience. Tesla will do nothing to stop them.”

Musk claimed his workers would not opt to unionize because they already have healthcare benefits and competitive pay.