Tesla to raise pay for hourly Nevada Gigafactory workers in Jan – CNBC

(Reuters) – Electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc has informed workers at its battery factory in Sparks, Nevada, that some of the set-rate hourly workers will see pay increases of around 10% starting early January, CNBC reported on Monday.

The EV maker will bump the pay for hourly workers from $20 to $22 an hour on the low end, and up to $34.50 an hour from $30.65 on the high end, according to the report, citing internal materials, adding that the raise can add anywhere from $2 to $8.30 an hour to their pay.

The company is also streamlining some levels, so that several levels of workers, for instance, making between $26.20 and $30.65 an hour at present will be adjusted to $34.50 an hour, the report said.

Tesla and did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) said last month it was launching a first-of-its-kind push to publicly organize the entire nonunion auto sector in the U.S. after winning new record contracts with the Detroit Three automakers.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, when asked about the UAW’s efforts at the New York Times DealBook Summit last month, said: “I disagree with the idea of unions.” He said if Tesla is unionized, “it’ll be because we deserve it and we failed in some way.”

Japanese automakers Honda (NYSE:) Motor and Toyota (NYSE:) have raised wages for non-union U.S. factory workers amid signs that the UAW is turning its attention to organizing the workforce at foreign-owned and Tesla auto plants.