As Tesla moves forward with plans to re-start vehicle manufacturing operations at its factory in Fremont, and possibly move its operations out of California, a state assemblywoman has a specific four-letter-word reply for the company’s Chief Executive, Elon Musk.
Representative Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat from San Diego, went to the one place that Musk was certain to see her comments, Twitter, and on Saturday night tweeted out, “F*ck Elon Musk” in response to the Tesla boss saying his company has begun the process of re-opening its Fremont plant, has sued Alameda County over the current shelter-in-place order meant to contain the spread of coronavirus, and threatened to move the company’s headquarters and operations out of state. Tesla currently employs about 10,000 people at its Fremont facility.
F*ck Elon Musk.
— Lorena (@LorenaSGonzalez) May 10, 2020
Gonzalez went on to express her frustration with the state of California’s relationship with Tesla, and the company for how she believes it has treated workers and conducted certain aspects of its business.
“California has highly subsidized a company that has always disregarded worker safety & well-being, has engaged in union busting & bullies public servants,” Gonzalez tweeted. “I probably could’ve expressed my frustration in a less aggressive way. Of course, no one would’ve cared if I tweeted that.”
California has highly subsidized a company that has always disregarded worker safety & well-being, has engaged in union busting & bullies public servants. I probably could’ve expressed my frustration in a less aggressive way. Of course, no one would’ve cared if I tweeted that.
— Lorena (@LorenaSGonzalez) May 10, 2020
Gonzalez, who is the author of the state’s AB5 law that is meant to make it more difficult for companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees, went on to tweet that her sentiments were also fueled by how coronavirus has affected California’s Latino population.
“And the “deaths from Covid-19 in California are disproportionately Latino. Our communities have been the hardest hit. By far. Maybe that’s why we take the public health officials’ warning and directions so seriously,” Gonzalez tweeted.
And, the deaths from Covid-19 in California are disproportionately Latino. Our communities have been the hardest hit. By far. Maybe that’s why we take the public health officials’ warning and directions so seriously.
— Lorena (@LorenaSGonzalez) May 10, 2020
For his part, Musk didn’t ignore Gonzalez, tweeting the reply of “Message received.”
Message received
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2020
Musk and Tesla have been at odds over the shelter-in-place order that went into effect in Alameda County, and across several Bay Area counties, on March 16. The order allows for essential businesses such as grocery stores and medical facilities to remain open. Tesla originally kept its plant running, but suspended car manufacturing operations on March 23.
Since then, Musk has used a conference call with Wall Street analysts to call the shelter-in-place orders “fascist,” tweeted that governments need to “give people back their freedom,” and said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that the coronavirus crisis is “practice” for the next pandemic that he suggested would result in more deaths than the current outbreak.
On Saturday, Musk said Tesla had filed a suit against Alameda County, charging the county with violation of due process by keeping Tesla from manufacturing its Model 3, Model S, Model X and Model Y vehicles at its plant in Fremont. Musk tweeted that “The unelected & ignorant ‘Interim Health Officer’ of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!”
The suit itself alleges that “Alameda County’s power grab not only defies the governor’s orders, but offends the federal and California constitution.”
Musk went to call the county’s measure “the final straw” and said Tesla would immediately move its headquarters to either Nevada or Texas. Musk went on to say that Tesla is the last company building cars in California, and remaining in the state would depend on “how Tesla is treated in the future.”
On Sunday, Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty said the county and Tesla had been close to finalizing a deal to re-open the company’s factory. Following Musk’s announcement of Tesla’s suit, and it possible move, the company posted on its website a report called “Getting Back to Work,” in which Tesla outlined the steps it intends to take to get its operations back on line and ensure the health and safety of its employees in Fremont.
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for further comment on the matter. Calls to Gonzalez’s San Diego office weren’t answered.
