US senator calls for investigation into Tesla's use of foreign construction workers

Dive Brief:

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) is urging federal agencies to investigate the visa status of foreign construction workers at Tesla's Fremont, CA, painting facility, The Mercury News reported.
Grassley cited a Mercury News investigation, which found that up to 200 workers at the Tesla facility, brought to the U.S. by subcontractor Vuzem, were being paid as little as $5 per hour and were working under B-1-B2 visas, which forbid construction work.
In a letter to federal enforcement agencies, Grassley took the opportunity to raise questions regarding the "oversight and enforcement" of the B visa program, which is supposed to allow only general business and pleasure travel within the United States, and request information regarding other companies that are using this type of visa to bring workers into the country.

Dive Insight:

Grassley's questions to federal agencies regarding the Tesla case include:

How many B visas, supervisory positions included, were issued to Vuzem workers for the Tesla project?
For nonsupervisory visas, what laws allow Vuzem construction workers to perform duties outside the scope of the B visas?
Did any Vuzem workers misrepresent the nature of their work on official documents?

Last month, a Vuzem employee, after sustaining serious injuries on the job, filed a lawsuit claiming that he and other workers were paid only $5 per hour, despite being promised $12.73 per hour. This amount falls far short of the $55 per hour Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said Vuzem agreed to pay workers. The suit asked for damages plus $2.6 million in back wages. General contractor Eisenmann, the company that hired Vuzem, said it would conduct its own investigation to make sure workers were being paid the correct amounts.

However, during the course of the Mercury News investigation, it was also discovered that 140 to 200 workers had been brought into the country under the "questionable" visas.

Tesla has also seen wage-related controversy on its $5 billion gigafactory project in Reno, NV. In February, workers on the project walked off, claiming that a contractor was bringing in cheaper out-of-state workers in defiance of a pledge Tesla made to a majority of Nevadans for the work. All of the construction crews returned to work, but Building and Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada officials said they would monitor the project for adherence to stated hiring practices. Earlier this month, building trade union representatives presented CEO Elon Musk with a letter asking him to adhere to his previous hiring promises.