Stellantis delays investment in US car plant
The reason that the move is leaving union workers on the edge of their seats is that the UAW and Stellantis had agreed on the investment per binding contract, following a six-week strike against Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis last year.
“Through the power of our Stand Up Strike, we have saved Belvidere,” UAW Vice President Rich Boyer summed up negotiations at the time. Stellantis agreed to invest 1.5 billion dollars in the Illinois plant, where it would build mid-size trucks by 2027. Moreover, the manufacturer said it would construct a 3.2 billion dollar battery factory, its third in the US. It, too, would be located in Belvidere.
In a statement obtained by the news agency Reuters, for example, UAW President Shawn Fain said the investment plans are “binding commitments in a union contract, and we as the UAW intend to enforce that contract to the fullest extent.” Stellantis countered UAW claims, saying the union had no right to strike, as the carmaker was not violating the terms of the agreement. After all, the investment was only being delayed, not cancelled.
“In fact, the UAW agreed to language that expressly allows the company to modify product investments and employment levels. Therefore, the union cannot legally strike over a violation of this letter at this time,” Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said in a statement.
Fain still fears that the doors in Belvidere could stay shut. “They say they want to ‘delay’ reopening Belvidere Assembly but they really want to kick the can past our contract expiration so they can suddenly cite ‘market conditions’ again and never open this plant,” Fain said. The contract with Stellantis runs out mid-2028.
The Union has since called on Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to resign. “I think he either needs to go or get someone close by him to work side by side with him to manage the company because I don’t think he knows what he’s doing,” Kevin Gotinsky, the UAW leader in charge of all things concerning Stellantis, said during a rally at the Belvidere plant.
In July, the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it would support the conversion of the Belvidere factory with 334 million dollars. Stellantis received the bulk of the share of the earmarked $1.7 billion in funding to convert eleven closed or troubled car production and assembly plants in eight US states to EV production. On top of the funding for Illinois, the manufacturer also received nearly 250 million dollars to convert its transmission plant in Kokomo, Indiana, for the production of electric drives. However, the DOE grants are apparently not final and could still be cancelled.
1 Comment