“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
On April 7, 1971, Texas enacted the Texas Motor Vehicle Commission Code — today part of the Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 2301. The key section that prevents manufacturers from owning or controlling dealerships is Section 2301.476.
Tesla has tried — and failed — to change this law multiple times (2015, 2021, and others). When the company launched the Model S in Texas around 2013, after losing legal battles against the powerful car dealer lobby, it immediately implemented a workaround known as the “Texas two-step”.
All purchases for Texas residents are handled as out-of-state transactions: ordering and payment via the Tesla website (often routed through Nevada or California), with technical delivery outside Texas or pickup at a service center after the transaction is completed elsewhere. This has remained the standard method ever since — even after Gigafactory Texas opened in 2022.
Despite treating the law as an obstacle rather than a stop sign, the overall relationship between Tesla and Texas remains strong. Texas is still one of Tesla’s most business-friendly states.
If IF Metall had studied history, they might not have opened Pandora’s box on October 27, 2023.
Instead of forcing the issue, they could have pointed to their own statutes, which clearly state that entering a collective agreement is voluntary. Now IF Metall finds itself tied up by its own decisions: defecting members, companies that went bankrupt during the strike, workers who received irregular strike pay, and growing internal anger.
The latest controversy? Striking workers are now being forced back to work and are no longer allowed to stay home collecting strike compensation. This has led to even more defections.
Today, one of the world’s most powerful unions — with a gigantic strike fund — is locked in a seemingly endless showdown with one of the world’s most economically powerful companies.
The only clear losers so far are IF Metall’s own members.
This is a new post on the new dewlar.me blog.
You can find the old blog here:https://mrsdewlar.blogspot.com
Mrs Dewlar 