A trade union member was detained by police at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Grünheide on Tuesday after the company said he was recorded making a video during a private works council meeting. Tesla’s Grünheide factory head, Andre Thierig, posted on Elon Musk’s X platform that an external IG Metall representative attended an internal works council session and “for unknown reasons” began recording; Tesla says it called police and filed a criminal complaint.
IG Metall, Germany’s largest metalworkers’ union, disputed Tesla’s account. The IG Metall Tesla Workers GFBB group on the factory’s works council called the company’s version “a malicious and a calculated lie,” saying the events looked like “a rigged game.” The group said a works council member who represents Tesla interrupted the meeting, summoned police and factory security, and that the laptop said to have been used for recording was seized before the union representative could respond.
Local police confirmed they had opened a case after Tesla pressed charges and had secured possible evidence for examination. A police spokesman said any further action would be coordinated with public prosecutors.
The incident occurred ahead of works council elections scheduled for March 2–4 at the Grünheide plant, which opened in 2022 and employs about 11,000 people. IG Metall has representation on the works council but not a majority. The site is not considered a fully unionized workplace with a collective bargaining agreement; Tesla has opposed introducing a fixed pay scale there.
The episode comes amid broader tensions over unionization at Tesla worldwide. The company has resisted unions in several countries and remains the only major U.S. automaker without recognized union representation in the United States. Workers and unions have mounted efforts in multiple markets, including strikes in Sweden and ongoing complaints about conditions in China, where company-backed unions can limit independent labor influence.