Tesla Shares rose over 7% and closed at $870.43 On Monday, reports in Germany suggested that the company may soon receive approvals for production to start at its factory outside Berlin.

Source: Tagesspiegel and Der Spiegel, Tesla aims to produce at least half a million cars annually at its “Gigafactory Berlin” (which is being built in Grünheide, Brandenburg), along with batteries for those cars, and will create at least 12,000 jobs there.

Employees at the factory also elected a “works council,” Der Spiegel reported, citing Birgit Dietze, the head IG Metall district of Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony. IG Metall has been ranked among the top trade unions around the globe.

Tesla CEO Elon Tesla has clashed against unions and workers trying to create them at Tesla U.S.

According to the NLRB Tesla violated labor laws when it fired a union activist, and when CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter in 2018: “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. They could do it tmrw. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?”

Germany is home to more organized labor.

Tesla will soon receive approvals to start commercial production at the Berlin factory, but it faces challenges around its water utility contract.

Local environmental groups will argue that Brandenburg’s environmental ministry failed to conduct adequate reviews prior to granting a license for the local water utility in order to fulfil a Tesla contract. Reuters reportedThe groups that brought the complaint claimed the factory used enough water to sustain a town of 30,000 people.

If the environmental groups win then Tesla must wait until the water utility negotiates with the local authorities about where the water they need for Tesla’s factory.

Tech stocks overall were mixed, with large-cap tech firms finishing close to the break-even mark.