Stellantis sues UAW to stop strike over stalled plant investment
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Stellantis NV is suing the United Auto Workers to prevent a possible strike stemming from a dispute about promised investments at its US assembly plants.
In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California on Thursday, the automaker accused the UAW of planning to violate a 2023 collective bargaining agreement by way of “impermissible” mid-contract strikes.
The UAW is threatening to walk off over delayed investments in the agreement, including a promise from Stellantis to reopen a shuttered plant in Belvidere, Ill. Stellantis disputes the UAW’s claim that workers are allowed to strike under the agreement if the company fails to deliver on promises in the deal, which runs through April 2028.
“Because the UAW has chosen to disregard this clause, they have left us with no choice but to take the necessary steps to protect the Company and our employees,” Stellantis senior vice president of human resources, Tobin Williams, wrote Friday in an email to employees.
Representatives for the union didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Stellantis and the UAW have been wrangling over the company’s investment plans for months. The carmaker has pointed to a slowdown in demand for electric vehicles as a change in market conditions that has prompted a revision in its production plans. It said it has a right to delay investments at manufacturing facilities if business reasons justify such actions.
“The planned future investments in the letter are conditional, require Company approval, and are subject to change based on these business factor contingencies,” Stellantis wrote in the lawsuit.
Stellantis has about 11,000 salaried workers in the U.S. at 20 plants, including four in operation in Indiana—all in Kokomo—that employ more than 6,000 workers.
Stellantis Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares has been grappling with bloated inventories and slowing sales in the US after he raised prices more than peers. Earlier this week, Stellantis reported its US sales dropped 20% in the third quarter, following a dramatic cut to its earnings guidance for 2024.
The UAW said Friday a majority of its members at Stellantis’ Los Angeles parts distribution center voted to request strike authorization from the union’s executive board if it can’t settle a grievance with the company.