Employees of a Tesla factory in the American city of Buffalo are protesting the leadership of the electric car manufacturer. These employees work on the self-driving functions of the Tesla cars, where they are constantly monitored.

As a result, the staff now plans to unite in a union.

The critical employees “train” the technology in the Tesla cars by identifying objects in images. This work allows a self-driving car to drive independently on public roads without breaking traffic rules. More than eight hundred analysts are said to work at the Tesla factory in Buffalo, New York.

Several employees told the Bloomberg news agency that Tesla monitors the number of keystrokes during their work to track how much work they do in a day. According to some employees, this even means that some employees do not get a toilet break. “People are tired of being treated like robots,” says one of them.

The workers are also demanding a higher salary. For example, the analysts would be hired at an hourly wage of 19 dollars, slightly less than 18 euros. The staff also wants to reduce the workload and have more say in decision-making within the company.

For example, trade unions in the United States are organized differently than in the Netherlands. Under US law, employers can voluntarily recognize a union if most employees are members. The employees have submitted their union plans to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. However, musk himself has not yet responded.