Protesters gathered outside Tesla’s Fremont factory Monday, calling it out for being the only American car company not represented by a union.
"My son works up in here. They laid off, they got rid of 700 employees up there, because there's no union,” said Vincent Ward, a member of the Local 10 Union.
Labor unions say efforts to unionize at Tesla have been largely unsuccessful.
"This is what we need in this country, because workers actually create the wealth. Billionaires don't, executives don't, shareholders don't," said Nassim Nouri with the Green Party of Santa Clara County.
The Labor Day demonstration was organized to bring attention to the union belief that with representation, auto workers would get better benefits and more protection.
"We're saying on Labor Day, working people in this country need unions,” said Steve Zeltzer with the United Front Committee for a Labor Party. “They need to have rights on the job, and these workers have the right to a job but they're intimidated, they're harassed."
NBC Bay Area reached out to Tesla for comment on Monday but did not hear back.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
