The United Automotive Employees (UAW) has been criticizing multi-national automaker Stellantis in latest months over delayed contract guarantees, and the union this week aired recent threats of strikes on the Dodge-Chrysler mother or father firm.
On Friday, UAW President Shawn Fain despatched a letter to Stellantis’ native chapters within the U.S., sharing official suggestions that employees help strike efforts in opposition to the corporate, as reported by Reuters. Within the letter, Fain echoed related grievances to these in latest weeks, pointing the finger at CEO Carlos Tavares for mismanagement within the U.S. and for a failure to re-open a retired manufacturing facility in Belvidere, Illinois.
“We unanimously suggest to the membership that each UAW employee at Stellantis put together for a struggle, and all of us get able to vote YES to authorize a strike at Stellantis,” Fain wrote within the letter. “We reviewed the intense violations of our contract and patterns of unlawful habits by Stellantis. The proof is obvious that CEO Carlos Tavares is steering Stellantis on a crash course that can trigger our members large hurt.”
The statements come as the most recent of the UAW’s efforts to get Stellantis to honor the re-opening of the Illinois plant, after the automaker agreed to take action in its contract with the union final fall. The union earlier this month filed federal fees in opposition to the corporate over unfair labor practices,
Tavares has confronted vital backlash from each the union and U.S. dealerships over the past a number of months, with the Stellantis Nationwide Seller Council highlighting record-high stock ranges because of “reckless short-term decision-making to safe document earnings in 2023” in its newest letter to the automaker.
Stellantis final week confirmed that it had begun contemplating potential CEO successors for Tavares, although a boss stated the corporate didn’t have any fast plans to exchange him.
If launched, the strike would come because the second in two years, after the UAW final yr launched simultaneous strikes in opposition to Stellantis, Ford, and Normal Motors (GM) that lasted a historic six weeks. The re-opening of the Belvidere plant was one of many stipulations enshrined within the contract settlement garnered with Stellantis following these strikes.
It additionally comes as Stellantis faces a possible strike in Italy, as a number of of the nation’s largest metalworkers unions have spoken out in opposition to the automaker over reducing manufacturing ranges. The automaker is at present projected to supply simply 500,000 autos in Italy for 2024, down from roughly 751,000 final yr.
UAW says Stellantis CEO ‘must go,’ following strike response
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