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* August…
The United Auto Workers union says it is prepared to possibly strike after claiming Stellantis hasn’t kept its end of the bargain to reopen the idled Belvidere assembly plant.
In the UAW-Stellantis agreement last fall, the automaker said it would make a nearly $5 billion commitment to reopen the plant which was indefinitely idled in February 2023. […]
Under the contract, the union is able to strike once an issue goes through the grievance procedure.
A statement from the UAW shared the language of the grievance filed:
“The Company has informed the Union that it will not launch the Belvidere Consolidated Mopar Mega Hub in 2024, it will not begin stamping operations for the Belvidere Mega Hub in 2025 and it will not begin production of a midsize truck in Belvidere in 2027. The Company’s failure to plan for, fund and launch these programs constitute a violation of the U.S. Investment letter in the P&M and OC&E Collective Bargaining Agreements. During 2023 National Negotiations the parties agreed to the investment plan for Belvidere to address job security concerns impacting bargaining unit members throughout the entire system. The Company’s failure to honor its commitments in the U.S. Investment letter is a serious concern to all bargaining unit members.
* A few days ago…
Automaker Stellantis continued its counterpunch to the United Auto Workers union with eight more lawsuits filed on October 4 against the union and 23 of its local chapters. These follow a suit filed October 3 against UAW and the local representing Stellantis’ Los Angeles Parts Distribution Center, which voted to request strike authorization from the UAW’s International Executive Board.
Although the two sides completed a new labor agreement in 2023, the UAW claims the automaker is violating that contract. Stellantis is charging that the UAW is seeking to initiate an unlawful strike against the company. […]
The Jobs Bank was a project started by General Motors in the 1980s “and adopted by Ford and Chrysler due to pattern bargaining,” Stellantis explained. It guaranteed that UAW employees would be paid a majority of their potential hourly wages, even if their positions were suspended or eliminated. According to Stellantis, it “generally prohibited the Detroit automakers from laying off employees.”
“The company understands that this situation is extremely unsettling for its Belvidere employees, which is why it agreed during 2023 negotiations to place these employees on temporary layoffs, which provide 74% of pay and full healthcare benefits,” Stellantis stated. But it emphasized that it will not reestablish “contract provisions” that contributed to bankruptcy filings by both Chrysler Corp. and General Motors within recent memory.
More on the union’s jobs bank demand…
Kevin Gotinsky, the director of the union’s Stellantis Department, disputed the company’s framing of the situation.
“Stellantis is falsely comparing its commitments in our current contract to the jobs bank program from decades ago. The jobs bank program offered non-production work to members whose jobs had been outsourced,” Gotinsky said in a statement Monday. “If Stellantis lives up to its commitments and reopens Belvidere Assembly and builds the Belvidere parts megahub, our members will be back to work soon and the cost to the company will be minimal. These employees can and are willing to perform work today. That is all they want, to have a future and be able to provide for their families as agreed to in our contract.” […]
“It is laughable that Stellantis claims our proposal to reopen Belvidere is ‘outrageous.’ In just the last nine weeks, Stellantis has p*ssed away $1 billion in stock buybacks for a total of $3 billion in stock buybacks this year. Our proposal would cost a fraction of that and would go directly to the autoworkers who have built this company,” [UAW President Shawn Fain] said.
* Sen. Bernie Sanders is in town today with Fain…
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will join United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain in Belvidere for a “Rally with the Working Class to End Trump’s NAFTA 2.0.”
The rally is scheduled at 10 a.m. Friday at the UAW Local 1268, 1100 W. Chrysler Drive in Belvidere.
* Gov. Pritzker issued this press release at 10 o’clock…
Today, Governor Pritzker issued the following statement:
“For over two years, the State of Illinois has offered its complete and full support so that the Stellantis plant in Belvidere can reopen as soon as possible and put our people back to work after Stellantis management chose to shut it down. Working families’ lives have been turned upside down and they deserve peace of mind.
Throughout labor negotiations, I maintained contact with auto workers, Stellantis executives, and UAW representatives to offer unprecedented state support for an agreement that would result in thousands of good, union jobs and billions in private investment.
Our Illinois workforce is second to none, and Stellantis knows it. With significant work and support from the state of Illinois, a historic national contract was signed that will restart the Belvidere plant. It is good for workers, good for the company, and good for Illinois. Ensuring auto workers get back to work with higher wages, good benefits, and valuable opportunities in a growth industry remains one of my highest priorities. That’s why I call on Stellantis to live up to the commitments it made a year ago to Illinois workers. There is every opportunity to begin the restart at Belvidere, and there is no time to waste.”
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 10:53 am
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I honestly don’t understand why the union is so hopping mad. A big employer intends to create ton of jobs but runs into difficulties when the market changes. Instead of being patient the union makes the situation worse. If I were the company I would just move the work to another facility all together.
That’s what Caterpillar did, and they’re doing just fine while Peoria is turning into a ghost town.
Comment by Just Me 2 Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 11:20 am
I get that it’s campaign season, but how is comparing Trump to NAFTA a thing? Didn’t the Clintons do NAFTA?
Comment by Frida's Boss Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 11:27 am
“I honestly don’t understand why the union is so hopping mad.”
It’s about contract rights. The UAW alleges Stellantis is violating the contract terms to which they agreed which is why the grievance was filed. The UAW has a duty to its members to ensure the contract is followed as does any bargaining agent. If the terms of the contract include the right to strike for the violation(s) in question, then the members can legally strike.
Comment by Steve Polite Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 11:54 am
One of the many, many reasons I haven’t bought a Dodge/Chrysler product in decades.
Comment by Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 11:57 am
==That’s what Caterpillar did, and they’re doing just fine while Peoria is turning into a ghost town.==
When did CAT close production facilities in the Peoria area?
Comment by Anon324 Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 12:02 pm
=== then the members can legally strike. ===
Exactly my point. It is as if they are going out of their way to make it as difficult as possible to provide much-needed jobs.
And this isn’t a technicality in the contract the union feels obligated to enforce — they recruited J.B. to re-enforce the message. I thought we wanted to support more manufacturers in Illinois and this is the opposite of that.
Comment by Just Me 2 Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 12:04 pm
I’m with the UAW on this one. If you make the promise - keep it.
Comment by Lincoln Lad Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 12:10 pm
Sorry, fat thumbed that last one.
==I’m with the UAW on this one. If you make the promise - keep it==
Especially true if you’re going to turn around and spend billions on stock buybacks to benefit execs and others instead of investing in the plant as promised. To an outsider, it appears as if Stellantis had no intention of doing anything in Belvidere and only said they would to get UAW to agree to the deal.
Comment by Anon324 Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 12:19 pm
=Didn’t the Clintons do NAFTA?=
H.W. Bush negotiated NAFTA, Clinton got it through Congress & signed it.
Trump renegotiated NAFTA, producing the USMCA, AKA NAFTA 2.0.
The Daily (NYT) has an excellent episode on NAFTA they released earlier this week. Worth a listen.
Comment by Anon62704 Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 12:39 pm
From the link:
The union states that the automaker was “unreceptive” to the idea of reopening the Belvidere plant in the October 5 meeting; while Stellantis maintains that “plans for Belvidere have been delayed – not cancelled.” Its position is that the contractual commitment to invest there are contingent on market conditions, and the UAW is threatening the 2023 labor agreement by agitating for a strike.
**
Stock buyback or not, if Stellantis can’t make those trucks at that factory without operating at a loss, and if it’s contract allows them to delay, seems the UAW doesn’t have the right to strike.
Comment by Liz Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 12:44 pm
I agree Liz. The contractual terms to which each party is obligated to follow depends on the specific contract language.
Comment by Steve Polite Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 1:00 pm
If Fain is so certain as to the contract requirement- why hasn’t he demanded to go to arbitration where both the contract and federal law require contract disputes be resolved- his strike threats are ill advised as is the Governor’s meddling
Comment by Sue Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 1:30 pm
* Didn’t the Clintons do NAFTA?*
The world has changed a little bit in 30 years.
Comment by SaulGoodman Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 1:43 pm
Stellantis stock price has been cratering from lack of sales. Not only are they buying back the stock, they seem to want to just dump the plant to cut costs.
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 2:36 pm
CAT did close some factories in E Peoria, but the area did not turn into a ghost town. Downtown EP has a large retail space where at least two buildings were. Target, Costco, a library, restaurants and city services are located there with other smaller places. Always a very busy area generating revenue for the City of EP.
Then there is Keystone and Komatsu among other manufactures still located in the Peoria area. Peoria area is doing ok.
Comment by FormerParatrooper Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 3:02 pm
===Peoria area is doing ok.===
It used to be a busy manufacturing hub. I grew up in Peoria and go there 1-2 times a month to see family. It is a shell of its former self, all because of the UAW chasing away the region’s biggest employer, the same way they are chasing away Stellantis.
You can whine that they have the money, but so did Caterpillar.
Comment by Just Me 2 Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 3:46 pm
@Anon62704 is correct. NAFTA started with GHW Bush and passed by Clinton.
=Downtown EP has a large retail space where at least two buildings were.=
You are describing the Levy District which was the site of the original CAT plant.
Peoria looks the way it does because 50% of the manufacturing that was there in 1960 left in the late 70’s/early 80’s.
Comment by JS Mill Friday, Oct 11, 24 @ 4:07 pm