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Stellantis (STLA) on Tuesday hit back at the United Auto Workers (UAW), just hours after the union’s president said members will soon vote on whether to authorize a potentially unprecedented strike.
In a speech to members on Tuesday evening broadcast on social media, UAW President Shawn Fain bashed Stellantis leaders like CEO Carlos Tavares and the automaker’s “corporate greed.” He also said the union is preparing to hold strike authorization votes at one or more of the locals representing Stellantis employees. Overall, some 43,000 Stellantis workers across 19 plants are members of the union.
In the past, the UAW had agreed as part of past deals not to strike while it had an active contract. But, as part of contract negotiations with Stellantis, General Motors (GM), and Ford Motor Co. last fall, the union won the right to strike over plant closures or job protection violations.
“Stellantis has declared war on the American working class,” Fain told members. “The company has decided to respond to our support by abandoning their workers, their dealers, their consumers, and the American taxpayer. We’re here tonight to save this company from themselves.”
In a statement, Stellantis said that a “strike does not benefit anyone – our customers, our dealers, the community and, most importantly, our employees.” The European automaker also took aim at Fain directly, calling into question some of his claims and accusing the UAW president of “willfully” damaging Stellantis’ reputation.
The UAW on Monday filed unfair labor practice charges against the automaker, accusing it of failing to keep to the promises made in its labor contract and illegally withholding information related to its plans. More than a dozen locals filed grievances over the automaker’s decision to delay reopening its Belvidere, Illinois, assembly plant, while others filed grievances over a reported plan to transfer production of the Dodge Durango to Ontario from Detroit.
The Belvidere plant was shut down in March 2023, although Stellantis agreed to commit almost $5 billion to help reopen it as part of the union’s contract. Stellantis said it would build a new $3.2 billion battery plant, invest $1.5 million to convert the plant to make electric vehicles, and build a $100 million parts distribution center, according to the UAW.
Last month, the UAW said that the Belvidere Consolidated Mopar Mega Hub will not launch this year, and that stamping operations at the Belvidere Mega Hub will not begin in 2025 as previously expected. Plans to convert the Belvidere plant to make electric midsize trucks by 2027 — a project that has been given more than $583 million in federal funding and is expected to employ 1,450 union workers — has also been delayed.
Stellantis said it is “attempting to carefully manage” how and when it launches new electric vehicles, calling the market “volatile.” It added that since its committments stretch across the life of its more than four-year contract with the UAW, “ it is not surprising that they haven’t been fully realized in the first year.”
Fain on Tuesday argued that the market “isn’t the problem,” instead pointing the finger at Tavares. The CEO has been under fire recently, taking criticism by both the autoworkers union and Stellantis dealers across the U.S., which warned that “disaster has arrived.”
As for the Dodge Durango, Stellantis said “Shawn Fain’s claim that the company has confirmed plans for the Dodge Durango is simply not true.” Last year, Stellantis committed to a $1.5 billion investment in the Detroit plant where the Durango is made and promised to continue making the current model through 2025 and the next generation in 2026.
