Tesla has filed a criminal complaint against an IG Metall union representative at its Gigafactory Berlin after accusing him of secretly recording a closed works council meeting. Police seized the representative's laptop during the incident on Tuesday. The union denies the allegations, calling them a calculated lie amid tensions ahead of upcoming elections.
On Tuesday, February 11, 2026, an incident unfolded at Tesla's Gigafactory Berlin in Grünheide, Germany, where the company accused an external representative from IG Metall, Germany's largest metalworkers' union, of recording a non-public works council meeting without permission. Gigafactory Berlin plant manager André Thierig posted on X, stating: "What has happened today at Giga Berlin is truly beyond words! An external union representative from IG Metall attended a works council meeting. For unknown reasons he recorded the internal meeting and was caught in action! We obviously called police and filed a criminal complaint!"
According to Tesla, the representative refused to hand over his laptop to site security, prompting works council chairwoman Michaela Schmitz to contact authorities. Police arrived in the afternoon, seized the laptop as possible evidence, and opened a case in coordination with public prosecutors. Under German law, recording such meetings, which discuss sensitive employee matters, is a criminal offense.
IG Metall rejected Tesla's account, with the IG Metall Tesla Workers GFBB group, which holds 16 seats on the current works council—the largest faction but not a majority—describing the assertion as "a malicious and a calculated lie" or "a brazen and calculated lie." The union claimed the meeting was interrupted without giving their representative a chance to respond, and accused Tesla of orchestrating a smear campaign to undermine their position. IG Metall announced plans to take legal action.
The facility, which opened in 2022 and employs around 11,000 people, has no collective bargaining agreement despite IG Metall's representation. This marks an escalation in the ongoing dispute between Tesla and the union. Works council elections are scheduled for March 2-4, 2026, following the 2024 vote where IG Metall received about 39.4% of individual votes but non-union lists secured a majority of seats. Tesla has resisted unionization efforts globally, including in the United States and Sweden, and rejects a fixed pay scale at the plant.
Recent context includes Tesla's announcement of a 4% pay raise without union involvement and a concert featuring rapper Kool Savas, described by some as anti-union propaganda. The plant's workforce has declined from 12,415 to 10,703 over the past year, amid broader challenges like a 48% drop in German sales in 2025.
