Tesla plant in Grünheide: Police intervention after works council meeting

That a police intervention occurred on the afternoon of 10 February is undisputed—both IG Metall and Tesla plant manager André Thierig have confirmed it. However, their subsequent statements no longer align. What is clear is this: the long-standing conflict between IG Metall and management has evidently reached a new and ignominious peak just three weeks before the works council election in Grünheide.

What happened? The company accuses an IG Metall representative of illegally recording the works council meeting on Tuesday using his laptop. Thierig communicated this in an internal staff email and in a post on social media. “For unknown reasons he recorded the internal meeting and was caught in action! We obviously called police and filed a criminal complaint!” Thierig wrote.

The trade unionist allegedly refused to hand over the laptop to site security. As a result, works council chairwoman Michaela Schmitz informed the authorities, and criminal charges were filed, according to Thierig. Police, who were called to the scene, subsequently confiscated the disputed laptop.

According to Thierig, the trade unionist in question was not a Tesla employee but an IG Metall official who had attended the meeting at the invitation of the union-affiliated works council members. “We do not know why the IG Metall representative recorded the meeting,” Thierig stated in the staff email. “What we do know, however, is that a works council meeting is a non-public event.”

IG Metall has rejected the accusation of unauthorised recording and described the incident as an “attempt to manufacture a scandal for the election campaign.” The union called the claim “an equally brazen and calculated lie.” During the meeting, a representative of another group allegedly claimed that the IG Metall member was recording the session with his laptop. IG Metall has announced its intention to take legal action against “those responsible for this smear campaign.”

In the current works council at Grünheide, IG Metall is the largest faction but does not hold a majority; other groups have formed a coalition capable of commanding one. The workforce is considered divided. IG Metall aims to introduce a collective bargaining agreement at the Tesla plant in Grünheide, a demand management has vehemently opposed since the factory opened. The upcoming works council elections will take place between 2 and 4 March 2026.

Update 16 February 2026

In the meantime, the public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation following a criminal complaint filed by Tesla alleging the unauthorised recording of a works council meeting. The public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt (Oder) stated that it has initiated proceedings against a representative of IG Metall on suspicion of violating the confidentiality of the spoken word and breaching the Works Constitution Act.

A representative of the trade union IG Metall reportedly attended a meeting of Tesla’s works council on Tuesday, 10 February, at the invitation of the IG Metall faction, although he neither works for Tesla nor serves as an elected member of the works council. According to the allegation, the individual recorded the discussions using his laptop. IG Metall rejects the accusation and considers it part of a campaign against the union ahead of the upcoming works council election.

When the individual refused to hand over the laptop to plant security, staff called the police, who subsequently confiscated the device. According to the public prosecutor’s office, authorities have arranged for the laptop’s data to be secured as required for the investigation.

Update 18 February 2026

In the dispute over an allegedly secretly recorded works council meeting at the German Tesla plant, IG Metall has launched a counterattack and filed a criminal complaint against plant manager André Thierig. The union accuses the manager of defamation. In addition, IG Metall says it has applied to the Labour Court in Frankfurt (Oder) for an interim injunction to prevent Thierig from disseminating what it describes as false allegations about the incident. That is not all: the union also states that it is preparing legal action for obstruction of trade union activities.

“Legal disputes are not our preferred form of confrontation. We prefer to fight alongside our members in substantive negotiations for better working conditions. But when a company attacks co-determination and trade union work so aggressively, we will defend ourselves by all available means, including legal ones,” says Jan Otto, IG Metall district head for Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony. “We will not allow Tesla to get away with this attack on workplace democracy. Our interest is that the criminal proceedings initiated by Tesla against an IG Metall employee are concluded swiftly.” The aim, he adds, is for the findings of the investigation to be available before the works council election at the beginning of March. “Then the employees themselves can form an opinion about who is telling the truth and who is not,” Otto says.

In its statement, the union also addresses the events themselves. In order to accelerate the investigation “and to be better able to defend himself against the false allegations spread by Tesla”, the trade unionist, through his lawyers, has offered to provide investigators with access to his laptop by unlocking it with his password. “This will enable investigators to quickly see that, contrary to Tesla’s claims, he did not record the works council meeting,” IG Metall writes.

The union’s statement does not indicate whether investigators have accepted the offer or what they found on the confiscated computer. However, Handelsblatt outlines a different account, citing an internal Tesla statement from the person who initiated the process. According to that account, a member of Tesla’s works council sat directly next to the IG Metall representative and became suspicious when he “asked a question with unusual vehemence and spoke more clearly than he normally did”. Out of curiosity, he looked at the laptop screen and allegedly saw that the microphone symbol was active. When confronted, the trade unionist is said to have replied: “Oh, sorry, it wasn’t intentional! I must have forgotten!” If this statement is accurate, the IG Metall representative would have admitted to making a recording.

It is therefore currently one person’s word against another’s. The dispute ahead of the works council election at the beginning of March is set to continue in the coming days.

automobilwoche.de, handelsblatt.com,rbb24.de, wiwo.de (update I), handelsblatt.com, igmetall-bbs.de (both update II; all links in German)