Tesla is playing a game of whodunnit. Someone—or someones—keeps stealing the company coffee mugs at the company's Gigafactory outside of Berlin, Germany, and the management isn't having it anymore.
At a recent heated staff meeting where employees butted heads with management over recent unionization efforts, plant manager Andre Thierig told employees that he's tired of ordering tens of thousands of company coffee mugs only for them to be stolen by employees. And if the thefts don't stop, according to DW. the company will stop providing forks and spoons in the break room.
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Tesla's Laborious Labor Problems
Labor relations with employees in Europe haven't exactly been smooth for Tesla. From unsafe working conditions to union busting, employees and media have made lavish claims about the working environment outside of the U.S. Some Tesla employees in Sweden have been on strike since October 2023 over claims of union busting in the country. Now, Tesla's German Gigafactory is under the watchful eye of the public after employees and environmentalists have become vocal over the plant's many problems.
"I'm just going to give you a figure. We've bought 65,000 coffee mugs since we started production here." said Andre Thierig, plant manager of Giga Berlin. "65,000! Statistically speaking, each of you already has five Ikea coffee cups at home."
Gigafactory Berlin officially opened 840 days ago on March 22, 2022. If we're counting, about 77 coffee mugs that walk out of the door every single day.
As Thierig pointed out, the number of missing cups far outweighs the number of employees currently working at the plant. Tesla only employs 12,000 people at its Berlin factory, meaning each employee could have stolen at least five mugs in their tenure.
"I'm really tired of approving orders to buy more coffee cups," said Thierig.
The manager reportedly threatened employees that the company would stop providing cutlery, such as forks and spoons, in the break room if the thefts did not stop.
Labor relations haven't exactly been going great over in Berlin. Not only does Reuters report that the company has three times the number of safety issues as a nearby Audi plant, but the company has also struck a nerve with employees after laying off more than 10% of its global staff in recent months. Environmentalists have also heavily scrutinized the company, some of which have radicalized and even set fire to utility poles outside of the company to hinder production.
Local union IG Metall recently petitioned to unionize and represent factory employees but failed to secure the majority vote. IG Metall secretary Jannes Bojert, who represents many of the Tesla workers, said that a strike is still possible if the plant's conditions don't improve—though it is a "last resort."
This isn't the first time that Tesla has been plagued with drama surrounding mugs. In 2017, Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted a photo of his "favorite mug" that featured art of a happy farting unicorn. The company was then accused of ripping it off by using it on company holiday cards and using a similar image to promote Tesla's in-car sketchpad app without the original artist's permission.
