Tesla’s German Gigafactory has been a source of controversy for an array of reasons in recent years, but the latest news is perhaps the most outrageous, egregious, baldfaced form of disrespect to the electric car titan: 65,000 coffee mugs have inexplicably gone missing, according to German publication DW. Why would any of the 12,000 employees who are employed at the German Tesla Gigafactory do such an evil thing to the Elon Musk–owned company that so benevolently provides them with a source of income?
When you work in a factory with 12,000 other people staff meetings are bound to be a handful, but at a particularly rowdy meeting recently, plant manager Andre Thierig told throngs of factory workers that he’s had to order 65,000 mugs since production in Grünheide began in 2022. If all 65,000 mugs were stolen, that equates to about 77 daily mug thefts. Thierig said he’s getting tired of approving orders for more mugs, and threatened to stop providing cutlery in the factory break rooms if the bloodthirsty mug thieves don’t cut out their antics.
Tesla successfully mugged off German Gigafactory employees when they tried to unionize under local union IG Metall, and Elon Musk’s company mugged off groups of pesky environmental protestors who protested against further expansion of the factory. DW said,
Soon after the beginning of production in 2022, German magazine Stern published an expose alleging serious violations of worker safety and health regulations as well as environmental laws. The report found that the Tesla plant had registered three times as many emergencies as a similar Audi plant in the city of Ingolstadt.
A company run by one of the richest humans on the planet has no excuse to be violating so many regulations meant to keep people safe and healthy. To the employees at the German Gigafactory, we wish you the best of luck in your efforts to unionize and expand your rights. Without you, Tesla wouldn’t be able to produce its cars and continue to earn Elon and shareholders more money, so remember that together, you have a lot of power.