Elon Musk Restarts Tesla Factory in California in Defiance of County Orders

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has just reopened the company’s factory in Fremont, California despite a stay-at-home order by Alameda County. In a tweet, Musk said that the production was resuming on Monday, adding that he would be on the assembly line and ready to be arrested in place of everyone.

Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2020

His decision comes after twitter drama between the billionaire with the government officials, resulting in Musk claiming he would relocate to Texas. “We are happy to get back to work and have implemented very detailed plans to help you keep safe as you return. Furlough has ended and we are back to work in production,” reads Statement according to an email sent to Reuters by the company.

Elon Musk and His Fight for Tesla Factory Reopening

Negotiations are continuing between Tesla and officials at the county, the city of Fremont and also the Fremont Police Department, where the company is situated. Tesla has been pushing to reopen its production in a similar plan as it did with the Shanghai factory in China.

However, the opposition from the local authority due to fears of a new wave of coronavirus outbreak has caused delays. Tesla might be enjoying support from the national government, led by President Donald Trump, which is advocating to reopen the country for business sooner.

Besides, Musk and his team are also enjoying absolute support from the California Authority to safely reopen its manufacturing. However, with the local authority given the mandate to safely control the reopening of business and not in good terms with the company, more negotiations might drag the case to the court of law.

Furthermore, Tesla filed a lawsuit on Saturday against the Alameda County seeking injunctive relief, to invalidate orders preventing it from reopening. In a turn of events, later that evening Tesla issued a back to work plan, which outlines how it intends to restart production while keeping employees safe.

According to Tesla’s plan, it is first intending to bring back about 30% of its factory worker on Friday. California Governor, Gavin Newsom seems to be hanging in between supporting the return plan by Tesla and protecting people from a new wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“I have long been a strong advocate and supporter for the early adopter, and the technology. I have not only known that company, but also known its founder for many years,” Newsom said. “I have great reverence for their technology and their leadership, and I have great expectations that we can work through at the county level issue with this particular county and this company in the next number of days.” 

Being a huge employer, Texas could feel great if the company would relocate there, which would be a great loss for the California residents.

Meanwhile, today in the pre-market, Tesla (TSLA) stock was rising.

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