Of all the workplace issues and employee discord at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Germany, the lack of mugs may be one of the most contentious topics for management.
During a heated staff meeting that was largely focused on concerns about safety and wages, Tesla factory manager André Thierig expressed concern about tens of thousands of coffee mugs that he said had disappeared from the factory, German state broadcaster DW reported, citing an audio recording obtained by German business daily Handelsblatt.
“We’ve bought 65,000 coffee mugs since we started production here. 65,000! Statistically, each of you already has five Ikea coffee cups at home,” Thierig told Tesla factory workers, DW reported.
The factory manager said he was fed up and promised to remove cutlery from the break room if the thefts did not stop. Meanwhile, workers laughed and applauded the seemingly trivial issue during a tense meeting, DW reported.
“I’m really tired of approving orders to buy more coffee cups,” said Thierig.
The coffee cup disaster comes as Tesla’s German factory in Grünheide, southeast of Berlin, is facing widespread workplace and safety issues. The problems have become so bad that Jannes Bojert, the secretary of the IG Metall union that represents many Tesla workers, said a strike was not out of the question, though it was a “last resort,” DW reported.
After several delays to its opening, the Gigafactory was set to open in 2022, but the company has faced a number of problems since then.
The factory has been plagued by safety issues. Last year, German magazine Stern reported that the Tesla factory had far more reported safety issues than average and three times as many safety issues as a comparable German Audi factory. Tesla later rejected claims by media and the IG Metall labor union that safety measures were inadequate, Reuters reported.
After Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed plans to lay off 10% of its global workforce, the approximately 12,000 workers at Germany’s Gigafactory are now also concerned about their job security.
The Gigafactory has also been criticized by environmentalists for the cutting down of trees to create and expand the factory, and for the effect on local water sources. Arsonists left Tesla’s factory—and 60,000 nearby residents—without power in March after setting fire to a power pole near the plant.
The factory attack prompted a visit from Musk himself. It is doubtful that the case of the missing mugs will make the same waves.