EVwire brief: Tesla plans to raise wages at Giga Berlin by an average of 4% to 5% starting October 1, with production workers receiving a 5% increase and skilled workers receiving 4%. The company will also introduce a performance-related bonus.
Production workers make up the largest portion of Giga Berlin's workforce, which Tesla says is approaching 12,000 employees. The company says it has increased wages every year since vehicle production began at the Grünheide factory in March 2022. The previous increase, announced in December 2025, was 4%.
The new increase comes as Tesla prepares to expand production at the German factory. Tesla says the starting salary for production workers is currently around €45,750 ($53,700) per year, which the company says is above the collectively agreed wage.
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Tesla continues to operate without a collective bargaining agreement at Grünheide, however, with German metalworkers' union IG Metall continuing to push for one despite losing a vote earlier this year. IG Metall district manager Jan Otto said the latest increase does not bring Tesla's compensation in line with the union's standards for the German automotive industry.
“It's just a drop in the ocean, because even with this, Tesla still falls short of IG Metall's standards for the automotive industry,” Otto said. He also criticized the absence of vacation and Christmas bonuses, which are included in many collectively negotiated compensation packages in the German automotive sector.
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Context:
The raise lands in the middle of a push to build more cars in Grünheide. Plant manager André Thierig first outlined a target of 7,500 vehicles per week in June, when Giga Berlin was building around 5,000, and the plan called for cutting cycle times from roughly 80 seconds per vehicle to 45 seconds. That cycle time has largely been achieved, and the plant now builds around 6,500 vehicles per week.
To close the gap to 7,500 by mid-October, Tesla and its works council agreed on three mandatory extra shifts in September, and Tesla expects its busiest week this month to reach about 7,100 to 7,300 vehicles. Demand is behind the push, as Tesla's registrations in Germany hit 3,034 vehicles in August, up 110.5% year over year.
Source: rbb24
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