Workers who prepare and process Tesla vehicles on San Francisco’s Pier 80 for shipment to Asia voted to join the ILWU in an election held on May 29 and certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in June.

The effort dates back to a more ambitious plan envisioned by terminal operator Pasha in 2016, when

Ford planned to import Mexican-built cars for sale to the U.S. – an effort that would have employed

80-100 workers. Poor vehicle sales killed the project after just a few deliveries.

That left Tesla as the remaining customer with enough business to employ 16 workers, including Austin

Vann, who served as an election observer for his new union. Workers have elected Vann and Henry Ormeno to serve on the Bargaining Committee, and they will now prepare for negotiating their first contract.

An effort by the Teamsters union to represent the same group of workers fell short when the votes were counted, as did an earlier effort by Teamster officials who arranged for Pasha workers from San Diego to

pose as San Francisco employees. The Teamsters backed-down from that strategy after the ILWU filed charges with the NLRB.