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Stellantis (STLA) filed a lawsuit against the United Auto Workers (UAW) union after unionized workers at the company’s parts distribution center in Los Angeles voted to strike against the automaker.
The UAW on Thursday authorized a strike if the two sides did not reach an agreement over investment commitments. This was the first such vote since local UAW chapters began filing grievances against the company in August, the union said Friday morning.
“Stellantis made a contractual promise to invest in America and we are not going to let them weasel out of it,” said UAW President Shawn Fain in a statement. “Our members won those investments during the Stand Up strike, and we will strike again to make Stellantis keep the promise if we have to.”
The company sued the UAW and the local California chapter that voted to authorize a strike late Thursday to “prevent and/or remedy a breach of contract” from “impermissible mid-contract strikes,” according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.
Last year, thousands of unionized autoworkers at Big Three vehicle manufacturers — Ford (F), General Motors (GM), and Stellantis — went on strike in a series of targeted walkouts across the U.S. The 46-day strike ended on Oct. 30, with workers and automakers reaching tentative agreements over contracts that were ratified weeks later.
As part of the renegotiated contracts, the UAW and Stellantis agreed to a number of planned future investments at U.S. plants that were to be made through the end of the new collective bargaining agreement in 2028.
The union has accused Stellantis of walking back these commitments, which totaled about $19 billion. One year out from the new contract, the UAW says the company has put forward investment plans that equal just 2% of that commitment. It also accused Stellantis of “publicly backtracking on its commitments to reopen the idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and to build the Dodge Durango in Detroit.”
“If Stellantis can give CEO Carlos Tavares a 56% raise and spend billions lavishing rich shareholders with stock buybacks and dividends, then they sure as hell have the money for productive investments in our plants,” Fain said.
Stellantis argues in its lawsuit that the planned future investments outlined in the contract are conditional, require company approval, and are subject to change. The lawsuit said the UAW and Fain’s “sham grievances” over the commitments do not allow for mid-contract strikes, and it accused the union of acting in bad faith.
If the investments are not made, other UAW locals could authorize strike votes soon, the union said.
