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The increasingly strained relationship between Stellantis and the United Auto Workers has spilled over into the U.S. courts with the automaker filing several lawsuits against the union and a number of individual locals.
In a statement posted Tuesday on the company website, Stellantis said it’s contesting a strike authorization vote held last week by UAW Local 186, representing employees at the Denver Parts Distribution Center (PDC). It will include mention of a grievance procedure violation in the lawsuit against the UAW and the individual local.
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Stellantis and the UAW are locked in a dispute largely centered around new product placement and the re-opening of the Belvedere, Ill. assembly plant. Last month the UAW filed a grievance over concerns that the next generation of Durango production might move to the Windsor Assembly Plant.
The company has not yet confirmed its production plans.
Late last month, UAW president Shawn Fain sent a letter to locals asking for a strike authorization vote to use in the dispute.
The UAW has filed dozens of grievances pertaining to the dispute and claims its 2023 contract gives it the right to conduct strike votes in these circumstances.
“According to the agreed upon language in the 2023 UAW-Stellantis Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the procedure for strikable grievances has three steps, each giving the company a specific number of days to respond,” the Stellantis statement said.
“The UAW educated its members on this process during one of its recent Facebook Live updates. It is unclear whether the Local chose to ignore the UAW education on its own or the UAW International instructed the Local to violate this process.
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“Either way, the process wasn’t followed.”
The company said the Denver strike vote was taken before the third step of the process was completed, claiming that made it illegal.
Stellantis also claims a letter of agreement in the contract allows it to change investment plans based on market conditions and plant performance.
The Denver lawsuit will be one of two additional lawsuits Stellantis would file Tuesday against the UAW and various UAW locals.
Stellantis also filed a suit last week against the UAW and UAW Local 230 in Los Angeles for holding what the company alleges was a premature strike authorization vote.
The company so far has filed nine lawsuits across the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts and Oregon.
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