Construction workers walk off Tesla's new Reno site in protest over pay

Hundreds walk off job at battery manufacturing plant as union organizers say out-of-state workers are increasingly being hired for lower pay

Hundreds of union construction workers walked off the job at Tesla Motors' battery manufacturing plant in northern Nevada on Monday to protest what union organizers say is the increased hiring of out-of-state workers for less pay.

Approximately 350 plumbers, carpenters, electricians, painters and others walked away from the construction site Monday along US Interstate 80, about 25 miles east of Reno, said Russell James, District 16 business development specialist for the Building and Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada.