Electric automaker, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) announced Monday that the company would be raising the hourly pay of some workers at its gigafactory in Nevada by around 10% starting in early January.
The electric vehicle manufacturer is set to increase the hourly wages for its employees, raising the lower end from $20 to $22 per hour and the higher end from $30.65 to $34.50 per hour. This adjustment could potentially add between $2 and $8.30 per hour to their current pay.
Additionally, the company plans to streamline its employment tiers, consolidating various worker levels. For instance, those presently earning between $26.20 and $30.65 per hour will see their wages adjusted to $34.50 per hour.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) announced last month, an initiative to publicly organize the entire nonunionized auto sector in the United States. This move followed the union's successful negotiation of new record contracts with the major Detroit Three automakers.
At the New York Times DealBook Summit, Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed his disagreement with the concept of unions. "I disagree with the idea of unions." He said.
Adding, if Tesla is unionized, "it'll be because we deserve it and we failed in some way."
Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC)) and Toyota (NYSE:TM), both Japanese automakers, have increased wages for non-unionized U.S. factory workers. A move that comes as there are indications that the UAW is shifting its focus toward organizing the workforce at foreign-owned automotive plants and those operated by Tesla.
Shares of TSLA are up 0.29% in pre-market trading on Tuesday.