UAW threatens more strikes at Stellantis over promise to re-open factory

The United Automotive Workers (UAW) union has announced that it may launch strikes against multi-national automaker and Dodge-Chrysler parent Stellantis, alleging that the company has failed to hold up its end of a contract that promised the re-opening of a former factory.

On Monday, the UAW threatened to launch strikes against Stellantis, due to the automaker attempting to go back on promises to re-open a factory it closed in Belvidere, Illinois. The news, announced in a press release, comes after the UAW successfully gained record pay increases at Ford, General Motors (GM), and Stellantis last fall, the latter contract of which included the promise to re-launch the plant.

In the contract signed between UAW and Stellantis last year following the strikes, the automaker agreed to re-open the Belvidere plant after it closed last February. The union says that Stellantis has since gone back on its product commitments, and UAW locals representing tens of thousands of workers under the agreement are now looking to file official grievances.

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“This company made a commitment to autoworkers at Stellantis in our union contract, and we intend to enforce that contract to the full extent,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “On behalf of autoworkers everywhere, we’re standing up against a company that wants to go back on its commitments and drive a race to the bottom at the expense of the American worker.”

The union lists the following local chapters as “some of the largest locals” looking to file grievances against Stellantis:

• UAW Local 12 (Toledo Assembly, Toledo, OH)
• UAW Local 140 (Warren Truck, Warren, MI)
• UAW Local 1700 (Sterling Heights Assembly, Sterling Heights, MI)
• UAW Local 7 (Detroit Assembly Complex – Jefferson, Detroit, MI)
• UAW Local 51 (Detroit Assembly Complex – Mack, Detroit, MI)
• UAW Local 685 (Kokomo Transmission, Kokomo, IN)
• UAW Local 1166 (Kokomo Casting, Kokomo, IN)

Specific complaints detailed in the grievance filing include Stellantis no longer planning to launch the Belvidere Consolidated Mopar Mega Hub this year, and it’s canceled plans to debut stamping operations at the site in 2025. Additionally, it says it’s no longer set to begin production of a mid-size truck at the factory in 2027, all considered violations of the 2023 agreement.

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