German authorities have dropped an investigation into an IG Metall union representative who was reportedly caught attempting to record a works council meeting at Tesla’s Grünheide factory.
According to a Reuters report on Friday, police found no evidence that the device’s microphone had been active during the alleged incident or that any recording had been made.
The information came from the prosecutors’ office in the eastern city of Frankfurt an der Oder.
Officials described the findings as preliminary, but noted that once the full police report is reviewed, prosecutors expect to close the case.
The news comes weeks after Tesla Grünheide’s works council elections, in which IG Metall sought to expand its representation.
Tensions between the company and the union had escalated in the lead-up to the vote.
IG Metall accused management of encouraging anti-union sentiment, while plant director André Thierig argued that the union’s focus was primarily on growing its representation.
In the elections, IG Metall secured 13 of the 37 works council seats, leaving a majority of the committee in non-union hands.
Defamation Lawsuit
A week after the company filed the criminal complaint against the union representative, IG Metall responded with a defamation lawsuit against plant director André Thierig.
The union also applied to the Labor Court in Frankfurt/Oder for a preliminary injunction to prohibit Thierig from further spreading false claims.
In addition, IG Metall said it was preparing a lawsuit regarding union busting — obstruction of union work — in the plant.
According to the union, the employee immediately submitted his laptop to investigators, which will allow authorities “to quickly see that, contrary to Tesla’s claims, he did not record the works council meeting.”
The union then said they hoped for the investigation results to be available before the upcoming works council election in early March.
“That way, the employees themselves can see who is telling the truth and who is not,” he said.
German Production Threat
Thierig warned late last year that Tesla‘s US leadership may reconsider expanding the Berlin factory if workers vote in favor of IG Metall representation.
“I cannot imagine that the decision makers in the USA will continue to push ahead with the expansion of the factory if the election results are majority in favour of IG Metall,” he told German press agency DPA.
Over the past two years, Tesla has cut around 1,700 jobs at the facility, according to a report published by German outlet Handelsblatt earlier this year.
An internal document revealed that the company employs 10,703 workers at the plant— a 13.8% decline from the 12,415 workers they had in 2024.
The information comes despite repeated statements by plant manager André Thierig that Tesla had not cut jobs or carried out production shutdowns throughout 2025.
Additionally, with the company’s plans to establish cell production in Grünheide announced in December, Thierif noted that a “substantially three-digit number” of new jobs would be created in the coming months.
The Grünheide plant has been producing Tesla’s best-selling Model Y SUV since 2022.
While factories in the US and Shanghai generally supply most international markets, GigaBerlin occasionally ships vehicles outside Europe — including Canada, as of late last year.
Thierig Comments
In recent weeks, Thierig has been vocal on social media about the union’s actions, with his latest post from three weeks ago celebrating the results of the works council elections.
“The IG Metall union has clearly failed to achieve its intended victory in the works council election at Tesla in Grünheide,” the plant chief wrote on LinkedIn.
Thierig highlighted the decline in votes received by the union this year.
“After receiving nearly 40% of the votes in the 2024 election, the union today managed only 31% of the votes! In my view, this is far from a ‘respectable result,’ but rather a clear defeat,” he stated.
A few days earlier, Thierig had also taken to LinkedIn to respond to the German media outlet Handelsblatt, which reported on production figures for the Grünheide factory:
“One really has to wonder what goals some media outlets are pursuing. But Handelsblatt just keeps taking things to the extreme,” he said.
He linked the media reports to the union’s actions, calling them “poorly researched, unreliable, and with only one aim – to run an anti-Tesla campaign together with IG Metall!”
Union Conflicts
The ongoing conflict between Tesla and several Swedish unions has been impacting the company’s operations in the country over the last two years.
IF Metall maintains its demand for Tesla to sign collective bargaining agreements covering wage increases, working hours, and pensions — standard practice among automotive companies operating in the country.
However, the Elon Musk-led company has found ways to work around the blockades.
A new service center is under construction and the company has recently renewed its contract to store vehicles at the Trelleborg port.
The blockade also affects vehicle charging, as work to connect the charging stations to the power grid has been blocked for nearly two years.
Despite this, Tesla managed to open several new Supercharging stations last year in Malmö and Södertälje.
The ongoing conflict has led Tesla‘s Swedish sales to plunge in 2025.
