Bloomberg News report
RENO, Nev. (March 1, 2016) — At least 100 workers at the construction site for Tesla Motors Inc.'s battery factory near Reno walked off the job Feb. 29 to protest use of workers from other states, a union official said.
Local labor leaders are upset that Tesla contractor Brycon Corp. is bringing in workers from Arizona and New Mexico, said Todd Koch, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada.
“It's a slap in the face to Nevada workers to walk through the parking lot at the job site and see all these license plates from Arizona and New Mexico,” Mr. Koch said in an interview. Those who walked out were among the hundreds on the site, he said.
Construction work at the $5 billion, 10-million-square-foot factory has been proceeding ahead of schedule. Tesla said in an emailed statement that the nonunion contractor involved in the dispute Feb. 29, which it didn't identify by name, is using more than 50 percent Nevada workers and that more than 75 percent of the factory workforce is residents of that state. Tesla didn't say how the walkout is affecting work at the site.