(This story was updated to add new information.)
UAW President Shawn Fain on Tuesday called CEO Carlos Tavares and Stellantis management “out of control” and pledged to force the automaker to honor its contract commitments as he laid out a process for upcoming strike votes against the automaker that owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands.
The online address from Solidarity House in Detroit in many ways reflected the tone and approach that Fain took with similar sessions during last year’s “Stand Up Strike” against Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis, except in this case the focus was solely on Stellantis.
Fain, in between sips from a mug with the words, “BOSS’S TEARS,” blasted the company and said the UAW is prepared to enforce contract provisions negotiated last year that allow the union to strike over product and plant investment commitments.
“It is clear this company will not stop at Belvidere. They will not stop at the Durango. They are determined to beat down the UAW and devastate the American working class, and we will not let them,” he said.
Fain said the company has confirmed its intent to move Dodge Durango production from the Detroit Assembly Complex-Jefferson, formerly known as Jefferson North Assembly Plant, to the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada. He said it would kill “thousands of jobs in America” and called it “a flagrant violation of our contract.”
The mention of Belvidere was a reference to the idled Illinois assembly plant that formerly produced the Jeep Cherokee and was expected to reopen based on last year’s negotiations. The company had also committed, according to the union, to build a mega parts hub and battery plant in Belvidere. Stellantis has described the situation as simply a delay.
In a statement Tuesday night, the company said Fain’s contention about the potential Durango move is not true and criticized his approach.
“The company has confirmed no such thing. However, Shawn Fain continues to allege that the company has violated the contract, but to date has provided no data or information to back up his claims. Instead, he continues to willfully damage the reputation of the company with his public attacks which is helpful to no one including his members,” according to the statement provided by spokeswoman Jodi Tinson. “We would all be better served if these issues were addressed across the table with productive, respectful and forward-looking dialogue. A strike does not benefit anyone — our customers, our dealers, the community and, most importantly, our employees.”
Fain: ‘We are fully within our right’
The union has been threatening a national strike against Stellantis over product and plant commitments and has filed grievances against the company and unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. The company has issued statements saying the union cannot legally strike over these issues.
But Fain pushed back on that argument and said the company was trying to intimidate and frighten workers even as the union had been asking for weeks to meet with Tavares.
“We are fully within our right to enforce this agreement,” Fain said, noting that it is not “charity” for Belvidere and that every plant is at risk if the company can violate its agreements.
The process for strike authorization votes
He also dismissed the company’s recent announcement that it would invest $406 million in three Michigan facilities — Sterling Heights Assembly Plant to build the first electric Ram pickup, Warren Truck to build an electrified Jeep Wagoneer and at Dundee Engine in battery-related production. Fain said that’s far short of what the company committed to in the contract.
However, the company noted that the agreement is just in its first year.
“Like all our competitors, Stellantis is attempting to carefully manage how and when we launch new products in an electric vehicle market that is still highly volatile. Our focus remains on offering consumers affordable multienergy vehicles while ensuring our future sustainability, which are necessary to protect U.S. manufacturing jobs,” according to the company statement. “The commitments we made during 2023 negotiations span the life of the 4-year, 7 ½-month agreement, so it is not surprising that they haven’t been fully realized in the first year.”
As for the process ahead, Fain said 28 union locals have filed grievances, with most of them having already gone through multiple steps ahead of possible strike votes. Following those steps if the grievances aren’t resolved, the locals would have 60 days to take a strike authorization vote and notify the company. That would not automatically lead to a strike but it would push the process forward if workers agree.
“In the coming days, we will be convening our Stellantis Council in Detroit. We will also be holding strike authorization votes at one or more Stellantis locals. And we will stand united to enforce our contract and save American jobs. And we ask the American people to stand with us,” he said.
Beyond the specifics about the grievance and strike authorization process, Fain took shots at Stellantis, which has been buffeted by criticism not just from union members but also from other key stakeholders. U.S. dealers issued a letter that said they’d been sounding the alarm over the company’s direction, and shareholders have sued the automaker.
The company, although still profitable, has seen a significant sales slide in the U.S. market this year along with declining profits. Fain stressed that the market is not the problem, “Tavares is the problem.”
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Fain: UAW will enforce Stellantis contract, says strike votes coming
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