*

UAW President Shawn Fain condemns Trump and Musk's actions

as

illegal and predictable

*

NLRB can order employers to cease illegal conduct and

inform

workers of their rights

*

Musk's companies face multiple NLRB complaints, including

illegal threats and discouraging unionizing

*

Trump and Fain have exchanged barbs in the past

(Adds details and commentary from Teamsters in paragraphs

17-19)

By Nora Eckert and Daniel Wiessner

DETROIT, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers

Union said on Tuesday it has filed complaints with the National

Labor Relations Board against Donald Trump and Tesla

CEO Elon Musk over attempts to threaten and intimidate workers.

It is unclear whether the NLRB would take action against

Trump for his comments on Monday during a two-hour conversation

with Musk that was broadcast on social media platform X.

The UAW seized upon Trump's remarks as the union rallies

behind Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President

Kamala Harris and encourages its nearly 400,000 workers to vote

for her over Trump. The issue is especially pertinent in

battleground states like Michigan which could determine who wins

the White House in November. The UAW endorsed Harris at the end

of July.

"You're the greatest cutter," Trump said to Musk during

Monday's conversation, complimenting the CEO's ability to cut

costs by saying he would not tolerate workers going on strike.

"I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you just say: 'You

want to quit?' They go on strike - I won't mention the name of

the company - but they go on strike. And you say: 'That's okay,

you're all gone.'"

Musk chuckled but did not respond to Trump's comments,

making it harder for the NLRB to find him liable for making

illegal threats to workers at his companies, said Wilma Liebman,

chair of the NLRB under former President Barack Obama.

Under federal law, workers cannot be fired for going on

strike, and threatening to do so is illegal under the National

Labor Relations Act, the UAW said in a statement.

After the union's action on Tuesday, Musk criticized UAW

President Shawn Fain in a social media post, alluding to two

past union presidents who went to prison for bribery and

corruption. "Based on recent news, it looks like this guy will

join them!" Musk said.

A court-appointed monitor of the UAW is investigating

several union executives, including allegations that Fain

retaliated against a member of his board when the person did not

take actions that would have benefitted Fain's domestic partner

and her sister. The UAW could not immediately be reached to

comment on Musk's response.

Trump campaign officials said his pledged 100% tariff on

Chinese imports would strengthen the industry, while Harris' EV

policies are hurting American manufacturing.

"This frivolous lawsuit is a shameless political stunt

intended to erode President Trump's overwhelming support among

America's workers," Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes

said in a statement.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to requests

for comment after the UAW's action.

Fain and Trump have exchanged barbs in the past.

"Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down

and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It's disgusting,

illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns," Fain

said in a statement on Tuesday.

Trump has called for the union leader to be fired, saying he

is responsible for U.S. auto manufacturing becoming weaker.

UAW members in Michigan tend to side with Democrats, but

pro-Trump workers have organized their own rallies in recent

weeks.

In the 2020 presidential race, 62% of Michigan households

with a union member voted for President Joe Biden, helping him

win the state, according to Edison Research. By contrast, union

households split 53% to 40% for Hillary Clinton in 2016, when

she narrowly lost the state and the national race.

Sean O'Brien, president of the Teamsters, another key labor

group, said of Trump's comments, "Firing workers for organizing,

striking, and exercising their rights as Americans is economic

terrorism."

The Teamsters have traditionally endorsed a candidate after

party conventions. O'Brien spoke at the Republican National

Convention in Milwaukee in July.

The union had also requested a speaking opportunity at the

upcoming Democratic National Convention but it had not heard

back, spokesperson Kara Deniz said. It had also invited Harris

to a roundtable but had not heard back.

SENDING A MESSAGE

The NLRB has limited power to punish unlawful labor

practices and the process often lasts years. In cases involving

illegal threats, the board can order employers to cease and

desist from such conduct and to post notices in the workplace

informing workers of their rights. Unions can also use favorable

rulings from the NLRB to engage workers they are trying to

organize.

"Everyone knows the NLRB remedies are toothless to start

with, but it's not so much for the remedy as for sending both a

political message and an organizing message," former NLRB head

Liebman said, referring to the UAW's action on Tuesday.

Fain filed separate complaints with the NLRB against the

Trump campaign and Tesla citing Trump and Musk as the employers'

representatives, claiming both men had made statements

suggesting they "would fire employees engaged in protected

concerted activity, including striking." The complaints did not

provide further detail.

The NLRB has jurisdiction over the Trump campaign as an

employer, but not Trump himself.

The UAW led a six-week strike against Detroit's Big Three

automakers last autumn, before winning record contracts.

MUSK AND THE NLRB

Musk, who has endorsed Trump for president, has had numerous

run-ins with the labor board. His rocket company SpaceX is

currently challenging the entire structure of the agency in a

pair of pending lawsuits. Those cases stemmed from NLRB

complaints accusing SpaceX of firing engineers who were critical

of Musk and forcing employees to sign severance agreements with

unlawful terms.

In March, a U.S. appeals court upheld an NLRB decision that

said Musk illegally threatened Tesla employees by tweeting in

2018: "Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting

union ... But why pay union dues & give up stock options for

nothing?"

Tesla is separately facing allegations from the board that

it illegally discouraged unionizing at a Buffalo, New York,

plant.