After learning about reductions in their performance bonuses over the weekend, Tesla’s Shanghai manufacturing employees resorted to social media to appeal to Elon Musk and the Chinese public.
A number of the posters criticized Tesla for the changes and claimed they thought the deductions were related to a deadly accident that occurred at the plant, its biggest worldwide, earlier this year.
The incident represents a sporadic flash of discontent at Tesla’s Shanghai facility, whose employees Musk commended last year for burning “the 3 a.m. oil” to keep things operating during the city’s two-month COVID lockdown.
It comes as Tesla has been reducing prices in numerous areas, notably China, where demand has been decreasing, raising concerns about the company’s industry-leading profit margin.
Late last week, the postings started to appear on forums like Baidu Tieba. Some people used the Musk-owned and China-blocked Twitter platform to twit the billionaire, his mother Maye Musk, and Tesla.
The tweet sent to Elon Musk and Tesla’s Asia division read, “Please pay attention to the performance of frontline workers at Tesla’s Shanghai factory being arbitrarily deducted.”
Two employees at the facility, where Tesla employs roughly 20,000 people said their managers warned them over the weekend about a reduction in their pay which is linked to the factory’s performance.
When probed about the reasons for the bonus cut, the employees claimed that Tesla supervisors referred to a “safety incident.” They chose not to give their names for fear of losing their employment.
An incident this year at the factory in February that resulted in one worker dying was the subject of several online posts that alleged workers at the Shanghai company were being unfairly punished.
A technical accident that occurred in the welding workshop on February 4 at Tesla’s Shanghai facility resulted in one worker’s death, according to a report released by the regional Pudong administration on April 12.
The accident was indirectly caused by a Tesla safety management overlook, according to the local government’s investigation, while the deceased employee was directly at fault.
At the Shanghai plant, base salaries begin at about 5,340 yuan per month, with some employees earning more money from overtime, shift work, and annual and quarterly bonuses.
According to a job posting on the official WeChat account of the state-owned Lingang Group, which offers hiring services to businesses in the area, employees can make between 110,000 and 120,000 yuan a year, including incentives and overtime pay. The compensation is comparable to that of other foreign and Chinese manufacturers in the area.
It’s not unusual for businesses to penalize workers after a workplace disaster, according to a researcher at the China Labour Bulletin in Hong Kong, Aidan Chau, although it typically comes out of a safety bonus.
“Deducting the performance bonus, which should be related to workers’ output and has nothing to do with work safety, is even more unfair,” claimed Chau.
On Wednesday, Tesla is expected to release its first-quarter earnings. Investors and analysts will be paying close attention to how its round of electric vehicle pricing cuts has affected its profitability.
It expanded the price-cutting campaign it started in China in January by slashing electric vehicle costs in Europe, Israel, and Singapore on Friday.
According to Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer, Zach Kirkhorn, the firm anticipates maintaining a gross margin of 20% on cars, excluding leases and regulatory credits, with an average selling price for its EVs exceeding $47,000 globally.
