By April 2028, the United Auto Workers union claims that Chrysler’s parent company Stellantis intends to invest $18.9 billion in the United States, of which $1.5 billion will be used to produce new midsize pickup trucks at a plant that has been idled in Belvidere, Illinois.
The estimated 43,000 UAW members who would be covered by the proposed contract at Stellantis would still need to ratify the 4½-year tentative agreement before the investments could be finished.
After local UAW leaders approved the tentative agreement on Thursday night, specifics of the deal were made public. UAW President Shawn Fain referred to the agreement as the “most lucrative contract our union has won in decades.”
The union’s targeted strikes against Stellantis, General Motors, and Ford Motor lasted for about six weeks before the tentative labor agreement was reached on Saturday.
Work stoppages started on September 15 as a result of the parties’ inability to reach agreements with the automakers by the strike deadline, which covered 146,000 UAW members.
In reference to the Belvidere factory, which was shut down in February 2022, Fain said during an online broadcast on Thursday, “For the first time in a long time, we’ve done the unthinkable: Reopened a plant.” We didn’t succeed by pleading with the business, accepting appalling working conditions, accepting a wage reduction, or engaging in a downward spiral. We didn’t succeed by lending a hand. We overcame it by rebelling.
UAW Vice President Rich Boyer, who chaired the Stellantis talks, emphasized that the Belvidere plant was a make-or-break issue and prioritized product commitments going into the negotiations.
According to the UAW, $8.1 billion in product pledges obtained by union negotiators from Stellantis are among the details that were revealed on Thursday.
Other planned investments, in addition to Belvidere, total $1.5 billion for the Dodge-Jeep plant in Detroit and the Jeep complex in Ohio; $1.4 billion for the Ram plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan; and $600 million for the Warren Truck plant owned by Stellantis, located in a Detroit suburb.
The company also intends to invest $3.2 billion in a new joint-venture battery plant in Belvidere, which is expected to open in 2028, according to the union. The agreement also includes the $6.2 billion in battery investments that were previously disclosed for two joint-venture battery facilities in Kokomo, Indiana.
According to Fain, the union will represent UAW members at the Belvidere battery plant by way of the business that leases the workers to the joint venture. If the plants that have already been announced will be subject to the same terms is unknown. Following the disclosure of the agreement’s specifics, a UAW spokesman refrained from commenting right away.
A representative for Stellantis declined to comment on the announcements made by the union.
According to the UAW, talks also resulted in an employee car-lease program that is similar to that of the business management. According to them, it comes with insurance, maintenance and repairs, unlimited mileage, and discounted prices.
The agreement for autoworkers includes significant pay increases, bonuses, and other enhanced benefits like profit-sharing payments and a $5,000 ratification bonus, similar to the UAW’s tentative agreement with Ford.
The 25% increase is divided into three parts: an 11% increase upon ratification, a 3% increase over the next three years, and a 5% increase in September 2027.
82% of Ford employees at the Michigan Assembly Plant voted in favor of the tentative agreement this week, marking the beginning of UAW members’ voting on the agreement. Along with other assembly plants with GM and Stellantis, the suburban Detroit plant was one of the first to go on strike.
Over the coming weeks, UAW members with Stellantis and GM are anticipated to cast their votes on the agreements. It takes a simple majority to approve the agreements.
