During his prime-time address at the Democratic National Convention, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain took the unique opportunity to praise Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz and address a key issue affecting the union he leads.
In front of millions of viewers, Fain took the opportunity to remind Stellantis (STLA) of the provisions of its landmark contract signed in November 2023; a promise to reopen the closed Belvedere Assembly Plant in Belvedere, Illinois.
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“But a year later, a company (Stellantis) wants to honor its commitments in our contract,” Fain told the crowd at the Democratic National Convention.
“I want to be clear: Stellantis must keep the promises it made to America in our union contract. And the UAW will take all necessary actions at Stellantis or any other corporation to confront and hold American corporations accountable.”
The UAW strikes back at Stellantis
Following Fain’s explosive speech at the Democratic National Convention, in which he criticized Stellantis in front of millions of prime-time television viewers, the UAW filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Sept. 16.
The basis for the charges stems from what it calls “Stellantis' unlawful refusal to provide information about the company's plans regarding the product commitments it made in the UAW's 2023 collective bargaining agreement.”
The union says several local chapters representing thousands of Stellantis workers have filed grievances with the automaker over plans to move production of the Dodge Durango SUV overseas. The heavy-duty Dodge is currently built at Stellantis’ Detroit assembly complex alongside its stablemate, the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
“In our 2023 contract, we won significant benefits, including a commitment to reopen an idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and to build the Dodge Durango in Detroit. We also won the right to strike over those commitments if necessary,” Fain said in a Sept. 16 statement. “Now, Stellantis wants to back out of the agreement. As a united UAW, we intend to enforce our contract and hold Stellantis to its promise.”
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The new complaints stem from proposals by UAW chapters against Stellantis that accused the automaker of reneging on its commitment to build a new multibillion-dollar facility at the idled Belvedere Assembly Plant — a move that would create 5,000 additional jobs.
“The company has informed the union that it will not launch the Belvidere Consolidated Mopar Mega Hub in 2024, will not begin stamping operations for the Belvidere Mega Hub in 2025, and will not begin production of a midsize truck in Belvidere in 2027,” the UAW wrote in its proposed grievance.
“The Company's failure to plan, fund and implement these programs constitutes a violation of the U.S. investment charter in the P&M and OC&E collective bargaining agreements.”
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According to a Document highlighting the UAW's 2023 agreement with StellantisThe automaker agreed to spend $1.5 billion to upgrade the Detroit assembly complex as part of a $19 billion schedule of improvements to its various manufacturing plants. It also stated that the current generation of the Dodge Durango would continue through 2025, followed by gas- and electric-powered versions of the next Durango iteration in 2026.
In a statement, Stellantis says it has not received any grievance notices and emphasizes that it has not fallen behind on its landmark 2023 collective bargaining agreement with the UAW.
“Like all of our competitors, Stellantis is seeking to carefully manage how and when we bring new vehicles to market with the aim of improving our competitiveness and ensuring our future sustainability and growth,” the automaker said in a statement. Automotive news. “We will communicate our plans to the UAW at the appropriate time.”
Problems at Stellantis
Shortly after the earnings call, the parent company of Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Ram began cutting jobs in key parts of its operations, offering voluntary severance packages to white-collar workers and mass layoffs that have caught the attention of J.D. Vance.
As a multinational car manufacturer, Stellantis' problems are not limited to situations occurring in the United States.
According to a Recent Reuters reportCEO Carlos Tavares said the automaker is working hard to take steps to help it avoid closing one of its car plants. Other European automakers such as Volkswagen are currently feeling the pressure amid a boom in cars from brands such as BYD and rising labor costs in Europe.
“We are working very hard to avoid that situation and the future will tell whether we will be able to avoid any problems or not, it is too early to say today,” Tavares said.
Stellantis NV, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange as STLA, was down 0.33% from the opening bell and was trading at $15.14 at the time of writing.
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