Early production has been slow, but Musk expects to be able to produce 20,000 Model 3 Teslas per month by December. Ramping up production is going to be brutal, Musk warned.
"We're going to go through at least six months of manufacturing hell," the Tesla CEO told a group of journalists ahead of the Model 3 event. On stage, Musk echoed the sentiment.
According to the Fremont, Calif., factory workers, Tesla is already putting its employees through a lot.
"One of the most serious issues concerns our health and safety," says a letter a group of factory workers from Tesla's main Fremont, Calif., facility submitted to the independent board members of Tesla on Monday, just three days after the Model 3 event and amid an ongoing effort to unionize.
"Accidents happen every day. Severe incidents frequently impact morale and cause delays in production. We are losing great workers who are valuable to both our production team and to their families while they spend time on medical leave, recovering from preventable injuries."
In May, California-based worker safety organization Worksafe published an extensive report after it analyzed the log of work-related injuries and illnesses at Tesla.
It found that Tesla's "total recordable incidence rate" was 8.8 percent (8.8 injuries per 100 workers) in 2015, the last full-year that data is available for. That's 31 percent more than the 6.7 percent total recordable incidence rate for the automobile industry as a whole, the report found, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
That 8.8 percent injury rate is higher than the similar injury rates of both sawmills and slaughterhouses, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sawmills have an injury rate of 7.3 percent and slaughterhouses have an injury rate of 5.1 to 7.3 percent, depending on the type of processing.
The issue of worker safety at Tesla manufacturing facilities is not new. Tesla factory worker Jose Moran wrote a post on Medium in February detailing the conditions and proposing a union. "We are working hard to build the world's #1 car    not just electric, but overall. Unfortunately, however, I often feel like I am working for a company of the future under working conditions of the past," Moran wrote.
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The workers say they want access to information about the dangers of the jobs they are doing, and they want a voice in the conversation about how to fix the safety issues.
Beyond safety concerns, the group wants clear guidelines on what is required to be promoted at the company. "Many of us have worked hard for years with the vague promise of a raise, to no end," the letter states.
Pay at the Fremont production facility starts at $18 per hour, which is below both the national average for auto workers ($25.58), according to The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW).
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