UAW sues Trump, Musk over worker threats in X chat

UWA president Shawn Fain celebrates union win

United Auto Workers (UAW) filed an unfair labor practice charge against Donald Trump and Elon Musk following their chat on X

(Image credit: Elijah Nouvelage / Getty Images)

By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

published 14 August 2024

What happened

The United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Donald Trump and Elon Musk, alleging that the pair attempted to "threaten and intimidate workers" during an interview on X.

"You're the greatest cutter," Trump said to Musk during their hourslong chat. "I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, 'you want to quit?' They go on strike — I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, 'that's OK, you're all gone.'" Musk, who is backing Trump for president, laughed and said, "Yeah." Federal law prohibits firing workers for legally striking. "When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.

Trump campaign adviser Brian Hughes called the UAW lawsuit, filed with the National Labor Relations Board, a "shameless political stunt" to erode Trump's support among blue-collar workers on behalf of "Democrat special interest bosses." The UAW is one of several major labor unions that have endorsed Kamala Harris. The Teamsters, whose president Sean O'Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention, have yet to endorse a presidential candidate. "Firing workers for organizing, striking and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism," said O'Brien to Politico, in response to Trump's comment to Musk.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) must now investigate if the UAW's complaint has merit. If so, it could "attempt to help settle the case," or go so far as to "sue Trump and Musk on behalf of the UAW," CNN said. Still, if Musk and Trump are found guilty in this case, a judge would "typically" order them to "stop their behavior" and compensate any employees who were "wrongfully terminated."

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.