The United Auto Workers (UAW) threatened Tuesday night to stage a strike against major automaker Stellantis due to allegations of failing to meet certain contract requirements on plant openings.
UAW President Shawn Fain indicated in a livestream that some local union branches have initiated strike authorization votes in an effort to enforce their contract agreement with Stellantis amid ongoing delays in reopening a production facility in Belvidere, Illinois, which the union claims Stellantis had committed to opening soon as a part of their contract deal reached last year. Stellantis and the UAW arrived at the agreement in October 2023 after a six-week-long strike that also targeted Ford and General Motors and largely brought the industry to a halt. (Related: ‘Not A Big Deal’: Rank-And-File Autoworkers Are Bucking UAW Biden Endorsement, Say They Can ‘Think For Themselves’)
“Seventeen Stellantis UAW locals covering tens of thousands of members have now filed grievances with the company to enforce our 2023 agreement,” Fain said in a statement. “As of today, two of those grievances have progressed to the third step, while eight others have moved to the second step. We are ready to enforce this contract. And the company knows it.”
The union alleges that the 2023 contract requires that the previously shuttered Belvidere plant be repurposed and brought back online to build midsize trucks and create vehicle parts, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“The commitments we made during 2023 negotiations span the life of the 4-year, 7 ½-month agreement, so it is not surprising that they haven’t been fully realized in the first year,” Jodi Tinson, a spokeswoman for Stellantis, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “And to be clear, Shawn Fain’s claim that the company has confirmed plans for the Dodge Durango is simply not true. The company has confirmed no such thing. However, Shawn Fain continues to allege that the company has violated the contract, but to date has provided no data or information to back up his claims. Instead, he continues to willfully damage the reputation of the company with his public attacks which is helpful to no one including his members.”
CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE – MARCH 20: A United Auto Workers (UAW) lawn sign sits on the ground near a Volkswagen automobile assembly plant on March 20, 2024 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In a separate statement on Monday, the UAW accused Stellantis of not upholding the commitments agreed upon in the 2023 contract, including allegations that the company was going back on its previous investment commitments. The statement also outlines concerns about Stellantis allegedly being in violation of the contract by attempting to move certain production of the Dodge Durango out of the U.S.
Fain called the company’s management and CEO ‘out of control,’ alleging Stellantis is guilty of ‘killing tens of thousands of jobs’ and ‘ripping families apart’ due to their closing and selling of manufacturing facilities.
“Working class people’s share of the pie, our quality of life, and even life expectancy have fallen,” Fain said during the Tuesday livestream. “While billionaires and corporate executives have gotten richer and more powerful.”
The UAW did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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