Victory for Elon Musk: US labor board abandons authority over SpaceX

Here's something that might surprise you — Elon Musk just scored a big win. The US labor board, the NLRB, decided it doesn't have jurisdiction over SpaceX anymore. According to Jon Brodkin writing in Technology, the agency ruled that SpaceX should be regulated under the Railway Labor Act, which covers railroads and airlines. Now, that’s a big deal because the Railway Labor Act has a much tougher dispute process, making strikes pretty hard for workers. What’s more, the NLRB had previously accused SpaceX of firing employees for criticizing Musk — an open letter called him a ‘source of embarrassment.’ But here’s where it gets interesting — by shifting oversight to the Railway Labor Act, SpaceX now falls under a different set of rules, and the NLRB’s influence is essentially out of the picture. So, this could mean less protection for SpaceX workers moving forward. As Brodkin points out, it’s a win for Musk, but the ripple effects could change how labor disputes unfold in aerospace and tech.