Rhode Islanders protest outside the Tesla Showroom and Service Center in Providence
"...no one voted for Elon Musk, and we will not stand idly by while he dismantles our government,"
Frustration with President Donald Trump and Elon Musk continues to boil over into protest. On Sunday, 35 people protested outside the Tesla Showroom and Service Center at 77 Reservoir Ave in Providence. I heard about the protest after the fact from organizers Ashley and Kristen, who supplied me with a short video and a statement:
“This protest was a grassroots effort that was very easy to organize because no one voted for Elon Musk, and we will not stand idly by while he dismantles our government,” said Ashley and Kristen, who helped organize the protest outside the Tesla dealership in Providence. “On what authority is this billionaire firing federal employees and restructuring our systems? Congress, an equal branch of government, is inept and an active participant in this takeover of our government - this coup.
“The executive branch is refusing to follow court orders, and they are installing overt fascists in every level of our government. So, we the people, organized to rise up to protect the democracy and civil rights that our government has refused to do. We will not stand by while an unelected billionaire and a group of oligarchs steal our money and destroy our rights and systems. We, the people, resist. As long as Elon Musk focuses his energy on this effort instead of his businesses, he can expect us to focus on him and his businesses.”
Here’s the video, followed by more pictures from journalist Phil Eil:
Former Providence Mayor Joseph Paolino Jr. is the man responsible for bringing Tesla to Providence in 2023. I attended the opening of the service center. Tesla employees were forbidden from speaking to the press at the event, so I asked the former Mayor (Tesla’s landlord in Providence) about Elon Musk’s terrible record on labor relations.1 Note that this all happened in 2023, years before Elon Musk started giving Nazi salutes:
Steve Ahlquist: Tesla has a bad record of employee relations and union busting. Does that worry you at all?
Joseph Paolino: Not a bit.
Steve Ahlquist: Why not?
Joseph Paolino: Because they’re investing $10 million here, and they’re coming into the neighborhood. I’ll tell you what, if they don’t come here and $10 million is not invested, this place is still empty. What do we want to have? [Labor issues] are for other people. That’s above my pay grade. That’s got nothing to do with Providence, Rhode Island.
Steve Ahlquist: You don’t think how employees are treated has anything to do with Providence, Rhode Island?
Joseph Paolino: Today, it’s important to have a job, and if they have a job and they’re happy with their salary, they’re happy with their conditions, they’re going to stay. If they’re unhappy, they’re going to leave.
Steve Ahlquist: Would you encourage a union here?
Joseph Paolino: I’m not going to answer that for other people. That’s not for me to answer.
Steve Ahlquist: That’s fine. I’m just wondering because Tesla has a pretty bad labor record, and Elon Musk is not known for being a great guy.
Joseph Paolino: I think we have to get away from the extremes of always yelling and screaming at companies that are investing dollars because of one or two areas. We’re not always going to be at a hundred percent agreement; it’s just not going to happen. We’re Americans. We shouldn’t agree on everything.
Steve Ahlquist: I understand that...
Joseph Paolino: But at the same time, just don’t kill everything for the sake of killing and say, “Hey, we’re winning the battle but losing the war.”
Steve Ahlquist: I’m not yelling and screaming. I’m just asking questions.
Joseph Paolino: And I don’t want to lose the war. $10 million being invested in this neighborhood is critically important. Then, if somebody breaks the law or regulations, they will go through the proper process through the Labor Relations Board, and they can be adjudicated. That’s not up for Joey Paolino to figure out.
In March 2023, "A court upheld a finding that Tesla wrongly fired a worker involved in labor organizing and that a Twitter post by Elon Musk was illegally anti-union," according to the New York Times. In April 2023, a United States labor board official ruled that Tesla supervisors at a Florida service center "violated United States labor law by telling employees not to discuss pay and other working conditions or bring complaints to higher level managers." Tesla, which makes electric cars, is the only major American auto manufacturer not represented by a union in the United States. As of January 2023, Tesla employs over 127,000 workers across the globe. None of them are unionized.
A great report, as usual, but "after the fact" (not your responsibility). Does anyone have a suggestion about how we could get all these protests reported regularly before the fact?? I am not on social media and not terribly connected, but I was the person running around telling my friends about the second demostration on the State House, and they were saying, "How did you find out?" (Steve Alhquist, probably). When I find out someone has organized something, I try to get on whatever mailing list they have.
If anyone wants to try to organize some kind of overall "save our country" demonstration newsletter, I'd be glad to help. In the meantime, if you're not on Meghan Kallman's e-mail list, this is part of her recent "Fighting Back" report:
"Alongside IndivisibleRI, I'll be hosting a community meeting in Pawtucket at Hope Artiste Village on March 26th at 6pm. The address is 999 Main St, in Pawtucket. All are welcome. We will be discussing building power at the local level, legislative advocacy, and what I'm working on this year."
I am on Indivisible RI list; I didn't hear about this from them; last time I checked, it wasn't on their website.
“ Joey Pallino” doesn’t really care about the people, he just cares about being wealthy. I’m sorry that Steve had such a terrible interview with him.