SpaceX charged for firing staff critical of boss

 

SpaceX has been accused of unlawfully firing eight workers who were critical of its multi-billionaire chief executive Elon Musk.

A complaint by a US labour agency says the employees sent an open letter to the firm’s executives in 2022, detailing workplace concerns.

The letter called him a “distraction and embarrassment”, according to Reuters news agency.

The BBC has approached the rocket and satellite firm for comment.

The complaint by a regional official at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accused SpaceX of violating the workers’ rights under federal labour law which allows co-workers to jointly advocate for better working conditions.

Toxic culture

The complaint also said those involved in the open letter were interrogated before being discharged.

Lawyers for one of the former employees, Deborah Lawrence, have reportedly accused SpaceX of having a “toxic culture”, where harassment is tolerated.

In a statement, seen by Reuters, Ms Lawrence said: “We wrote the open letter to leadership not out of malice, but because we cared about the mission and the people around us”.

The NLRB’s general counsel acts like a prosecutor and brings cases to the five-member board appointed by the organisation’s president.

If SpaceX does not settle, the case will be heard by an administrative judge, whose decision can be appealed to the board and then to a federal appeals court. A hearing is scheduled for 5 March.

If the NLRB finds that the firings violated labour law, it can order that workers be reinstated and given back pay.

Mr Musk’s companies have been accused of violating employees’ rights before.

In October, the NLRB accused X, formerly known as Twitter, of illegally firing an employee over tweets challenging the company’s return-to-office policy. X denied wrongdoing.

Electric car maker Tesla has also faced several NLRB complaints, which included allegations of race discrimination at its factories. Tesla has said it does not tolerate discrimination.

In August, the US Department of Justice sued SpaceX, alleging it discriminated against refugees and asylum seekers in its hiring practices.

At the time, Mr Musk posted on X: “US law requires at least a green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are considered advanced weapons technology”.

Under subscription

The bonds come with a coupon rate of 13 per cent and 14 per cent which is above the 10 per cent target that President William Ruto had sought. The closing date is February 17.

Last week’s attempt to raise capital through the re-opened 10-year and new 10-year Treasury bonds were a disappointment last week, as the bonds were undersubscribed by a staggering 39.1 per cent.

Despite offering coupon rates of 12.9 per cent and 14 per cent respectively, the bonds failed to attract the expected level of interest from investors.

The government had targeted to raise Sh50 billion in the February bond issue, but the weak response has left the Treasury, grappling with a shortfall in the desired amount of capital.

“Investors preferred to invest in short-term T-Bills for liquidity,” said analysts at Abojani Investments.

“Underperformance is attributed to investors not being ready to take long-term risks and thus preferring short-term T- Bills.”

The low subscription rate is a clear indication that investors are increasingly wary of long-term investments and are seeking to maintain a high level of liquidity in their portfolios.  This is evident in the fact that investors have shown preference in short-term Treasury Bills, which offer lower returns, but provide a quick and easy exit option.

With investors showing a preference for short-term investments, the Treasury may have to offer higher coupon rates to attract capital, which will increase the cost of borrowing for the government. 

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u warned last week while in Mombasa saying the country is in dire financial straights, this came a month after the government chose to extend maturities of bonds that were due for payment in February.

BY BBC