Stellantis announced this week that it will reduce its production hours for the month of July at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant.
The Warren plant will go from two shifts to one for the month, officials confirmed on Monday, July 1. It was not immediately clear whether more shifts would be added at the plant again in August.
Stellantis officials say the decision to cut hours is meant to align production with the company’s sales. The Detroit-based automaker will “continue to monitor demand and take the necessary action to balance inventories,” a spokesperson said Monday.
The move comes just weeks after Stellantis leadership promised a massive cost-cutting effort that may affect jobs for many Metro Detroit workers. At an investor meeting in late June, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares announced cost-cutting measures for the company -- which he hopes will amount to a 30% cut.
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The efforts could mean considerable job loss for workers, including those at the Auburn Hills office tower, where Tavares said much of the cost-cutting is aimed.
“We have at least two plants that need a significant turnaround; at least two,” Tavares said in June.
The United Auto Workers union called out the Big Three automaker following Monday’s news, saying Stellantis is only cutting production hours in an effort to “find another penny to pinch at the expense of hardworking autoworkers.”
During the UAW’s Big Three contract negotiations last year -- which resulted in a weekslong strike across several states -- the union was particularly critical of Stellantis. Union leadership said then that Stellantis is the richest automaker among the Big Three, claiming the company has the biggest profits, profit margins, and revenue.
Workers affected by the shift reduction in Warren will get layoff pay and benefits under their new union contract, the UAW said Monday.
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