The United Steelworkers union in Western New York said some employees from Tesla reached out to it and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers several months ago about starting an organizing campaign.

Organizing coordinator David Wasiura says they want job security, fair and equal treatment and wages to support a family.

"We know that the only way that you’re going to have a shot at a guaranteed wage is through collective bargaining and a union contract,” said David Wasiura, organizing coordinator for USW District 4.

The campaign went public Thursday as the union began passing out informational leaflets in front of the Buffalo facility.

For the protection of the employees, USW won't say how many people have signed on already but it is happy with the progress.

"We will continue to work to have a showing of support from the workers,” Wasiura said. “Once we have the number of workers that we feel comfortable who are supporting the union and have said so through a card signing process, we will file for an NLRB election."

Tesla said it never promised $65,000 salaries but its starting wage of $16.20 per hour is more than comparable manufacturing jobs in the region.

On top of that, it gives employees equity compensation and free medical insurance.

The company has received significant financial support from New York but state leaders offered employees support as well on Thursday.

"I think that this is between the union and their members, the union and the perspective members as they try to go in and find out what the conditions are, what their needs would be and to work with the management,” said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. “It's early in the stages. This effort is just started I understand but again, we always support the right of workers to unionize."

"I've always been a supporter of workers, of workers' right to organize and if the folks that are working over at the Tesla plant want to organize, that is their right to do so and I will back them up on that,” added State Senator Tim Kennedy.

USW leaders say a union contract could guarantee employees at the Tesla Gigafactory are paid fairly.

There are currently 800 people employed at the site, already topping the goal of having 500 employees at the facility by April 2019.

 

The rest of Tesla's statement reads: 

"Other factories are shutting down in the US and we still have a long way to go to make Gigafactory 2 financially sustainable. Nevertheless, we continue to do everything we can to keep exceeding our commitments to jobs and business in Buffalo.

Today's demonstration consisted almost entirely of groups outside of Tesla, not Tesla employees. And ultimately, it’s up to our employees to decide if they want to be unionized. While we will never please everyone outside of Tesla, we have an unwavering commitment to providing a great workplace for our employees. That’s what matters."