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Union tries to seize control of works council at Tesla’s German factory – Lawsuits and slander claims fly in IG Metall’s battle with Elon Musk over employment rights and conditions.

Europe’s largest trade union is trying to gain control of the works council at Elon Musk’s Tesla gigafactory near Berlin, in an industrial relations showdown marked by lawsuits and mutual accusations of slander.

The works council, an elected body of employees that negotiates everything from working hours to pay deals with a company’s management, is considered an entrenched aspect of the German corporate world, particularly in the car industry.

But it was a bone of contention at the Tesla plant in Grünheide, about 20 miles (30km) south-east of Berlin, even before the gates opened almost four years ago.