In the past two years the UAW has become more aggressive against employers as workers have become more scarce. As a potential warning to the automakers, the union last week raised strike pay from $400 to $500 per week. The Belvidere plant could wind up making Stellantis the lead company in contract talks that open this summer with the Detroit Three automakers. The union says about 2,300 employees are affected. It's also working on relocation for interested workers, the UAW statement said. The union said it has negotiated, and Tavares said the company has agreed to, retirement packages as well as voluntary termination and pre-retirement leaves for workers. Shawn Fain, his opponent in a UAW officers' election that is coming to an end soon, said the union should have enforced clauses in its contract that prevent plants from being closed. "If we don' fix it then everybody's going to be in trouble," he said.īut UAW President Ray Curry said the company's “ill-advised decision” will disrupt lives, uproot families and cause repercussions through the regional parts supply chain network. Stellantis, Tavares said, has to optimize its manufacturing and distribution footprints. He said the company is not seeking specific concessions from the Belvidere plant. “The reality of the transformation of the market is the reality that we need to face.” “We need to adapt to this new world,” Tavares said. It also can't sell EVs at a loss, so it's left with absorbing the added costs. Stellantis, he said, can't pass the increased costs to consumers because many wouldn't be able to afford new cars. The company, Tavares said, is executing a transformation to electric vehicles, which are 40% more expensive to make than those with internal combustion engines. The last Jeep Cherokee small SUV rolled off the plant's assembly line on Tuesday. In a meeting with reporters Tuesday, Carlos Tavares, CEO of the company formed by combining Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA Peugeot, said Stellantis is “looking for solutions” for Belvidere, which now has no new vehicle to build. "We will highlight their corporate greed to workers, community, taxpayers, and consumers.” “This economic dislocation is a choice made by Stellantis to reap even higher profit,” union Vice President Rich Boyer said in a statement.
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