BUFFALO, N.Y. — We learned Thursday that dozens of Tesla employees at the facility in Buffalo were fired this week just a day after unionization efforts at the plant were announced.
And Friday, 2 On Your Side got the chance to ask a lawmaker representing that part of the city about the controversial firings.
State Senator Tim Kennedy told us Friday morning that he is "disappointed" at the allegations that Tesla fired workers this week for trying to unionize in Buffalo.
Tesla fired dozens of employees working at the South Buffalo plant earlier this week, just days after a group of workers announced they wanted to unionize. That group claims Tesla fired the workers because of those efforts, but Tesla says the employees were fired based on performance reviews.
Thursday night, Tesla released a statement on its website saying in part, "There is a false allegation that Tesla terminated employees in response to a new union campaign."
Senator Kennedy says he stands with the workers and wrote a letter to the National Labor Relations Board, asking them to expedite an analysis of the situation.
"The expectation is that Tesla will follow the law and negotiate in good faith if the workers choose to organize. Part of that is if in fact these workers were fired because of a unionization effort, that's against the law, and Tesla needs to hire those workers back and beheld accountable if in fact that law was broken," Kennedy said.
Kennedy says he hopes the people who were fired can get their jobs back.
The state invested nearly a billion dollars in the Tesla plant in South Buffalo both to build it and for the specialized equipment inside.