Plan B Forum

A Bay Area News Group investigation has found overseas contractors are shipping workers from impoverished countries to American factories, where they work long hours for low wages, in apparent violation of immigration and labor laws.
Entering the country with questionable visas, the workers are increasingly showing up in the Bay Area where companies can save a bundle on cheap imported labor. Gregor Lesnik was among more than 100 of those workers, quietly here from Eastern Europe, earning as little as $5 an hour to build a new high-tech paint shop at Tesla's auto plant in Fremont -- until he plunged 30 feet to the factory floor. Now, his whistle-blower lawsuit is exposing the hidden workforce expanding Tesla's factory.

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/business/ci ... nt-factory

edited to correct subject line

Gregor Lesnik was brought to the Tesla factory by a company called ISM Vuzem, a sub-contractor brought in by Eisenmann, the firm that we hired to construct our new, high-volume paint shop. We contracted with Eisenmann for the simple reason that we do not know how to build paint shops and they are regarded as one of the best, if not the best, in the world. In our dealings with them, we have found them to be an excellent company, run by good people.
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The article describes how Mr. Lesnik came to this country, the conditions under which Vuzem employed him and others to do their work, and how Mr. Lesnik ended up being injured while on the job. Assuming the article is correct, we need to do right by Mr. Lesnik and his colleagues from Vuzem. This is not a legal issue, it is a moral issue. As far as the law goes, Tesla did everything correctly. We hired a contractor to do a turnkey project at our factory and, as we always do in these situations, contractually obligated our contractor to comply with all laws in bringing in the resources they felt were needed to do the job.

Regarding the accident that resulted in Mr. Lesnik being injured, Cal/OSHA (the government regulator that investigates workplace accidents like these) came to our factory, investigated the incident and found that Tesla was not responsible. When Mr. Lesnik brought a workers compensation case, Tesla was dismissed from the case because the judge concluded that we had no legal responsibility for what occurred. ... "

PALO ALTO -- Following up on this newspaper's investigation, Tesla Motors said Monday it will probe reports that imported subcontractors were working for less than $5 per hour at its Fremont factory.

The newspaper's investigation, "The Hidden Workforce Expanding Tesla's Factory," featured Gregor Lesnik, a 42-year-old Slovenian laborer who was seriously injured in a 2015 factory accident. The accident and a subsequent suit show Eisenmann, a German-based manufacturer, and a Slovenian subcontractor, ISM Vuzem, employed at least 140 imported workers who performed construction work on B1/B2 visas for substandard wages.

The work was apparently done in violation of visa regulations, immigration experts say.

Tesla said it would address the issues in the investigation. "If Mr. Lesnik or his colleagues were really being paid $5 an hour," the company said, "that is totally unacceptable."


Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted Monday morning that he had just heard about the story. "Sounds like the wrong thing happened on many levels," he wrote. "Will investigate and make it right."

In a one-page statement, the company said it followed the law, and cooperated with a California Occupational Safety and Health investigation of Lesnik's May 2015 accident. The company was cleared of responsibility, it said. Lesnik broke both his legs and suffered a concussion after falling three stories through a loose panel in the factory roof. He has returned to his home in Slovenia, but has yet to return to work.

"We do not condone people coming to work at a Tesla facility, whether they work for us, one of our contractors or even a sub-subcontractor, under the circumstances described in the article," the statement said. "If Mr. Lesnik or his colleagues were really being paid $5 an hour, that is totally unacceptable. Tesla is one of the highest paying hourly employers in the US automotive industry. We do this out of choice, because we think it is right. Nobody is making us do so."

Lesnik has filed suit against several companies, including Tesla, seeking damages and penalties for back wages. The suit estimates the foreign workers, mostly from Croatia and Slovenia, are owed $2.6 million in back wages and overtime.

You could have followed up yourself before posting the misleading init. post.

rubato wrote:You could have followed up yourself before posting the misleading init. post.

but that would not have been like you, right?


yrs,
rubato

dales wrote:

rubato wrote:You could have followed up yourself before posting the misleading init. post.

but that would not have been like you, right?


yrs,
rubato

At least I'm able to admit when I've erred unlike your putrid little self.