TOLEDO, Ohio — The president of the international United Auto Workers union said in a Facebook live stream on Monday night that Stellantis employees are taking the first steps toward another strike, just one year after negotiating for new contracts during their 46-day "stand-up strike" in 2023.
"I'm announcing that in the coming days, we will be convening our Stellantis council in Detroit, and we also will be holding strike authorization votes at one or more Stellantis locals, and we will stand united to enforce our contract and save American jobs," Shawn Fain said in the stream.
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This new conflict between Stellantis and the UAW goes all the way back to when the strike ended in 2023.
At the time, Fain called many of the union's achievements in the new contracts "impossible." But now, he said it seems Stellantis took him at his word.
In the agreement, there is a list of future product allocations that were promised, such as the idle Belvidere plant in Illinois receiving new truck production by 2027, something Fain says hasn't happened.
"They say they want to push it back just a year, but it's no coincidence it goes beyond the life of this contract," he said.
And Fain said while Stellantis puts out press releases celebrating putting $400 million into its plants, it's just a drop in the ocean.
"That $400 million represents just two percent of the total commitment this company made to us in our 2023 national agreement. I look at that press release and see nothing for Toledo machining," he said.
Those are just a couple of examples of promises Fain believes Stellantis has no plans on keeping, and now he's getting together a war council to try to fix it.
"He's going to call a special meeting for all of our Chrysler leadership in North America and we're going to figure out what our next steps are," said Bruce Baumhower, president of UAW Local 12.
Baumhower said he doesn't know when the meeting will be or what the timeline for strike authorization even looks like, but he said a representative for the Toledo facility will be there.
However, in a copy of the 2023 agreement that WTOL 11 obtained, a passage shows there may be a conflict with Fain's demands.
While there clearly are plans to install new production at the Belvidere facility and other places around the country, on the next page in black and white, it clearly states:
"It is understood that the product investment and employment level numbers are set forth above are subject to approval by the Stellantis product allocation committee and contingent upon plant performance, charges in Market conditions, and consumer demand."
Baumhower is unsure whether this will lead to another strike.
"We'll see. Our members did take a long strike last year to get this secured. Shawn will decide what the best strategy is, whether it's a national strike or engine plants or something," he said.
But, Baumhower promises to support Fain on the picket lines if needed.
"We didn't negotiate for months and months and months just for the company to go, "we're kidding." They've got to execute on the commitments they made," Baumhower said.
Fain says the UAW filed grievances at 28 different Stellantis locals across the country, giving the company 19 days to respond to the issue. If the union doesn't hear a response after that, the locals have 60 days to vote on strike authorization.