STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – Detroit Big Three automaker Stellantis on Tuesday announced more layoffs at two Michigan facilities just after the United Auto Workers union declared a strike at the company’s largest plant.
Jeep maker Stellantis announced Tuesday, Oct. 24 that 525 more autoworkers were immediately laid off from its Sterling Stamping and Warren Stamping facilities in Metro Detroit, bringing its total number of laid-off workers above 2,000. The automaker said the latest layoffs are directly related to the UAW’s latest strike action that took Stellantis’ most profitable assembly plant offline on Monday.
Stellantis said in a statement Monday that it was “outraged” over the UAW’s decision to call a strike at the company’s Sterling Heights Assembly plant, which makes Ram 1500 trucks. UAW President Shawn Fain said the strike was escalated against Stellantis because the company has the highest profits among the Big Three, but had the “worst proposal on the table regarding wage progression, temporary worker pay and conversion to full-time, cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), and more.”
About 6,800 Stellantis employees walked off the job at the Sterling Heights plant this week in a move designed to put even more pressure on the Detroit automakers in hopes of reaching a new contract deal, and soon. Despite all the tension amid the bargaining process, both sides have expressed their desire to come together to end the strike -- but, so far, none of the offers made have been met with union approval.
‘We want to get an agreement; We want to get this thing done,” Fain told Local 4 on Monday, as he led picketers outside the Stellantis plant. When asked when the negotiations could actually end, Fain said: “It can get done in short order. It can be done by this week -- that’s up to the company.”
The union’s decision to deal a major blow to Stellantis, and later GM, came at a time when talks seemed to be gaining momentum and making progress. Stellantis itself appeared to be surprised by the Monday strike, saying it hadn’t heard anything from the union since it made its latest offer last Thursday.
“We are outraged that the UAW has chosen to expand its strike action against Stellantis. Last Thursday morning, Stellantis presented a new, improved offer to the UAW, including 23% wage increases over the life of the contract, nearly a 50% increase in our contributions to the retirement savings plan, and additional job security protections for our employees. Following multiple conversations that appeared to be productive, we left the bargaining table expecting a counter-proposal, but have been waiting for one ever since.
“Our very strong offer would address member demands and provide immediate financial gains for our employees. Instead, the UAW has decided to cause further harm to the entire automotive industry as well as our local, state and national economies.
“The UAW’s continued disturbing strategy of ‘wounding’ all the Detroit 3 will have long-lasting consequences. With every decision to strike, the UAW sacrifices domestic market share to non-union competition. These actions not only decrease our market share, but also impact our profitability and therefore, our ability to compete, invest and preserve the record profit sharing payments our employees have enjoyed over the past two years.”
Stellantis
The automaker said Monday that it has laid off 2,045 workers since the strike began, including workers at facilities in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. As of Oct. 23, 400 employees have been laid off from its Sterling Stamping facility, and 125 employees were laid off from its Warren Stamping facility, both of which supply stamped parts for the Ram 1500, Stellantis said.
The UAW argues that the Big Three has more than enough money to keep everyone on their payroll amid the strike, and that layoffs are not necessary. Fain says the companies are using layoffs to try to “put the squeeze on our members to settle for less,” though he has said the union will continue striking as long as it has to.
“There’s no hail Mary. We’re gonna do what we gotta do. It’s time to hit them where it hurts and get this thing done,” Fain said Monday.
General Motors and Ford Motor Company have also laid off thousands of workers since the UAW launched its strike, citing complications from the strike. Both GM and Ford are also seeing strikes at their most profitable plants as the union attempts to expedite talks and push the carmakers closer to their list of demands. A strike was called on Oct. 11 at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant, and a strike was called on Oct. 24 at GM’s Arlington Assembly plant in Texas.
Fain reported last Friday that the union’s negotiations with GM and Stellantis had made “serious movement,” and that the companies had “put a lot more money on the table” last week. Still, the union chief said there was much more progress to be made, and that the sides were still far apart on some of the union’s demands, including cost of living allowances (COLA), job security and more.
While remaining critical of Ford, the union announced Tuesday that GM “lags behind Ford” with its latest offer, effectively declaring that “serious movement” insufficient. Last week, the union said GM’s position was “worrying.”
Despite the surprise strikes that will certainly generate frustration among the Big Three, Fain maintains that he and the union want to see the strike end -- but not before they achieve their desired contracts.
The UAW has maintained for months that its goal is to secure a “record contract” for autoworkers amid the companies’ recent “record profits” -- and carmakers argue the latest offers they’ve made would be considered “record” offers. Last week, Fain conceded that the offers on the table are “record” contracts, but said they still aren’t good enough following concessions made by autoworkers during and after the Great Recession.
“There is more to be won,” Fain said. “One thing we’ve been hearing over and over from these companies is how they’ve offered us record contracts. They stole that line from us, by the way, and you know what? We agree. These are already record contracts, but they come at the end of decades of record decline, so it’s not enough to be the best-ever when autoworkers have gone backwards over the last two decades. That’s a very low bar.
“I also find it a pathetic irony that every time they make an offer, it’s the best they can do, it’s a record offer, and then two days later, there’s a new record. What that should tell you is there’s room to move.”
Amid all the tension, though, Fain did say last Friday that the bargaining has reached its “last mile,” indicating that a resolution may be on the horizon.
“The bottom line is we’ve got cards left to play, and they’ve got money left to spend. That’s the hardest part of a strike. Right before a deal is when there’s the most aggressive push for that last mile,” Fain said. “They just want to wait us out. They want division. They want fear. They want uncertainty, and what we have is our solidarity.”