While everyone is mad at Elon Musk for speaking out against the political injustice being taken against Tesla, and for also dropping an F-bomb during the Q1 earnings call, California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzales dropped one of her own:
F*ck Elon Musk.
— Lorena Gonzalez (@LorenaSGonzalez) May 10, 2020
I have a question for those angry at Elon Musk for being angry at the government for not allowing Tesla to open. Why is it okay for Apple to reopen its stores — stores that serve the public — yet Tesla, which has ample experience in post-pandemic reopening (China) and would simply be engaged in internal manufacturing, can’t reopen its factory?
In Michigan, Governor Whitmer is allowing manufacturers, including automakers, to restart production. Granted, Michigan and California are two very different states, but it befuddles me that even though Governor Newsom gave the green light for manufacturers to start working again, Tesla isn’t allowed to.
On Twitter, I expressed my thoughts and many people responded that Elon wants to kill people, that I should apologize to the 80,000 dead Americans and those on ventilators, and other angry rants about how Elon is putting his workers at risk. The truth is, many of these may be bots, but for those who aren’t, they are badly misinformed by the mainstream media.
https://twitter.com/flcnhvy/status/1259310677723959297
I want to break this down for those who may not understand why Tesla should be qualified to reopen along with the retail stores and other manufacturing plants in California.
1. Tesla has a detailed health and safety restart plan.
2. Tesla has new safety guidelines that include:
- Increased cleaning
- Producing and providing disinfectant in work areas
- Enforcing social distancing controlling access to its facilities
- Implementing temperature checks
- Implementing symptom screenings
- Providing PPE suspending visitors and tours.
3. Tesla’s prepared a daily health check to help employees stay vigilant. Some of these include:
- Allowing employees to bring their own PPE if Tesla hasn’t provided all of its employees PPE.
- Complete self-health check
- Using video-conferencing and minimizing meetings or large gatherings.
- Minimizing carpool and public transport. Clean your non-disposable PPE daily.
4. Tesla is preparing its building with a COVID-19 Restart Readiness Checklist used to verify readiness. This covers the building’s HVAC areas — ensuring both interior and outdoor areas have been cleaned and sanitized as well as making sure there is ongoing maintenance of a clean site.
In Tesla’s Getting Back To Work Playbook, the company goes over a very detailed safety plan for communications, work areas, and safety. If this all seems a bit familiar, that is because Tesla has been through this process before in China. It’s Shanghai Gigafactory had to close down and then reopen, so Tesla, the only American company with its own factory in China, has ample experience in making sure it meets the strict safety guidelines.
https://twitter.com/glowglorynow/status/1259413590563590144
So, what’s the problem? In my opinion, it’s more about politics than it is about protecting workers. Elon Musk has been very outspoken against the lockdown. In general, he has been criticized by many for his stance on this and some have even likened him to sounding like Trump.
Former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, falsely accuses @elonmusk of wanting to take people's jobs away unless he is allowed to risk their health.
Yet Apple is allowed to reopen. And there's no mention of Amazon telling their workers they don't get paid sick leave. $tsla https://t.co/zplFeR7CLd
— GettingStoned.eth (@_GettingStoned) May 10, 2020
Even though I initially disagreed with Elon on reopening America “NOW,” I do think it is unfair to target Tesla and its employees because of political differences with its CEO. When politicians come out and say “$%*& Elon Musk,” as retaliation to him speaking out against what he sees as injustices being imposed on Tesla and its employees, it would seem as if those same politicians really are saying “$%* Tesla and its employees,” who are people said politicians may represent.
Oh boy, Elon is madder than a murder hornet and I can’t blame him.
It’s apparent now that Texas is where his heart is. 👇🏼 https://t.co/YstD2w6NMY
— TREV PAGE (@Model3Owners) May 9, 2020
Us: Ah, of course
— Third Row Tesla Podcast (@thirdrowtesla) May 10, 2020
No one will win from this. Sure, Tesla may save millions or billions on taxes if it leaves California, but employees will have to move or find new jobs. And the state will be the biggest loser. Tesla may also miss out on talent in the Silicon Valley region that won’t be available elsewhere. Maybe.
In my opinion, the issue isn’t Tesla, it’s because Elon Musk isn’t politically correct. He doesn’t agree with this agenda and speaks out against it, and every time one goes against the mainstream, the crowd instantly hates the “outsider.”
We should really take politics out of this whole matter. Hopefully the situation looks better in a few days.