UAW workers in Indiana, Stellantis reach tentative deal
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United Auto Workers members who went on strike Saturday at the Stellantis casting plant in Kokomo have reached a tentative deal with the company.
The UAW Local 1166 bargaining committee announced a tentative agreement in a blog post, saying that a ratification vote would be held Monday.
Stellantis confirmed the tentative deal Monday.
“Stellantis confirms that the Company and UAW Local 1166, representing the workers at the Kokomo, Indiana, Casting Plant, have reached a proposed tentative agreement on a new local contract. As the tentative agreement still needs to be ratified by the workforce, we will not comment further.”
The strike was related to health and safety issues, including the company’s alleged refusal to repair and replace the plant’s air conditioning and heating systems.
The UAW local complained in a statement that Stellantis “claims it has no money to meet its membership’s basic needs” — including providing clean uniforms — while ”making record profits and investing billions in a new battery plant across the street.”
The 35-acre plant in Kokomo makes parts used in the power trains of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and RAM vehicles. The 1,200-worker plant, Kokomo Casting, is the world’s largest die cast facility, according to Stellantis.
In May, Stellantis announced a $2.5 billion joint venture with Samsung to build an electric vehicle battery factory in Kokomo that is to employ 1,400 workers.
Stellantis, created last year through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Peugeot, had said it would build two electric vehicle battery factories in North America. The other is slated for Windsor, Ontario.