The United Auto Workers is threatening a national strike against Stellantis for allegedly stalling on its plans to reopen the shuttered Belvidere Assembly Plant as agreed.
In a news release Monday, the UAW said “tens of thousands” of workers from several large locals are prepared to file grievances against Stellantis, “paving the way” for a strike.
“This company made a commitment to autoworkers at Stellantis in our union contract, and we intend to enforce that contract to the full extent,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in the release.
In November, Stellantis committed to investing nearly $5 billion to retool the plant for production of a new midsize truck, build an adjacent electric vehicle battery plant and create a “megahub” parts distribution center. Part of an agreement to end a six-week strike by the UAW against the Big Three automakers, the plan is expected to bring thousands of jobs back to Belvidere.
The grievance states that Stellantis told the union it would not launch the megahub parts center this year or begin stamping operations next year as planned. In addition, Stellantis said it would not launch the midsize truck production by 2027 as originally scheduled, according to the grievance, which has yet to be filed by UAW locals.
There was no mention by the UAW about the planned 2028 launch of the EV battery plant.
A Stellantis spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
In February 2023, Stellantis indefinitely idled the assembly plant and laid off its last 1,200 workers after halting production of the Jeep Cherokee amid dwindling sales. The Belvidere plant, which opened in 1965 under the Chrysler banner, had been building the Cherokee SUV since 2017.
The plant had more than 5,000 workers on three shifts as recently as 2019, but demand for the Cherokee waned and downsizing accelerated under new owner Stellantis, which was formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Peugeot of France in January 2021.
The UAW and Illinois legislators made restarting the plant a priority throughout the strike negotiations with Stellantis.
In November, President Joe Biden came to Belvidere to celebrate the UAW-Stellantis agreement to reopen the plant, joining Fain and a jubilant crowd of autoworkers. Both Biden and Fain were scheduled to speak Monday during the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Stellantis hired back 165 laid-off employees in December to work in parts distribution. In May, however, 130 of those workers were temporarily laid off, the company said.
The Belvidere plant is in line for a $334 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Biden administration’s plan to incentivize the transition to electric vehicles.
In addition to the federal money, the state is still putting together its own financial incentive package for Stellantis, employing everything from a $400 million manufacturing relocation closing fund to tax discounts for shifting to EV production.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
