Elon Musk Says Juneteenth Is a Holiday at Tesla and SpaceX, but People Quickly Pointed out His Major Issue

Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX joined corporations across the U.S. in recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and fighting racial injustice. While many companies made Juneteenth a paid holiday, Tesla and SpaceX went in the other direction. Employees who chose to take the day off had to use a paid-time-off day, which angered Twitter users and Tesla employees.

Some employees were already at work when Tesla sent out an email about Juneteenth at 8:18 a.m. Friday morning reports BuzzFeed News. The email, written by Valerie Workman, the head of Tesla’s North American human resources, told employees the company “fully supports Juneteenth for any U.S. employee that wants to take the day off to celebrate, reflect or participate in events that are meaningful to you.” In the end, Workman noted, “This is an unpaid PTO and excused absence.” Employees who spoke with BuzzFeed called the first email “pointless.”

Musk shared the news on Twitter as well. “Juneteenth is henceforth considered a US holiday at Tesla & SpaceX,” he wrote. One Twitter user praised Musk for providing Juneteenth as a “paid holiday,” but Musk clarified that this was not the case. “It does require use of a paid-time-off day, which is true of many other holidays,” he said.

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Sources told BuzzFeed News the messages on Juneteenth were “performative.” For example, Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California was still fully operational Friday. Workers were told they could leave, but they would have to use a vacation day or PTO day to be paid for the day. The only real difference was employees would not be penalized if they did not work, sources said. Employees can be fired if they have enough penalities.

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The Fremont factory is the only non-union car factory in the country. It has been open since May after Musk, a coronavirus skeptic, ignored Alameda County’s shelter-in-place order. Musk sued the county, which later allowed Tesla to make cars while other businesses were still closed. Factor workers previously told BuzzFeed the company did impose social distancing policies and asked employees to wear masks, but the policies were not enforced.

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Juneteenth began in 1866, a year after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in Texas. The state was the last Confederate state where slaves were emancipated. Although slavery was not completely abolished until the 13th Amendment was ratified in December 1865, Juneteenth was embraced as a day to celebrate emancipation.

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