UAW Releases Video Criticizing Stellantis' Robocall Campaign Against Strike
DETROIT – The United Auto Workers (UAW) disclosed a video today that reveals a robocall initiative by Stellantis, urging a significant number of UAW members to reject a potential strike authorization vote. In August, the union raised grievances against Stellantis over alleged breaches of product and investment commitments under the current contract, which might lead to a strike.
The video is available here, and media outlets are encouraged to use the footage.
UAW President Shawn Fain narrates the video, expressing concerns about Stellantis' actions. “Stellantis management is literally saying we’re going to eliminate your job and gut your community, but we would appreciate your support,” Fain states. “The company has NO BUSINESS telling you how to vote. But it’s clear that Stellantis is scared.”
The release of this video coincides with a rally and march organized by Stellantis members and supporters at 3:30 p.m. at UAW Local 1264, situated at Stellantis’ Sterling Stamping Plant. More details about the event can be found online.
Significant achievements were secured in the UAW’s 2023 contract, including Stellantis' commitment to recommission an idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and continue the production of the Dodge Durango in Detroit. However, Stellantis is reportedly trying to reverse these commitments.
The 2023 contract also granted the UAW the right to strike over these specific commitments, and union members are gearing up for a strike if Stellantis fails to uphold its commitments.
Complete Transcript of President Fain’s Narration:
Carlos Tavares is out of control, and it’s once again up to UAW members to save this company from itself.
The company has sent robocalls to tens of thousands of UAW members trying to tell us how to vote on a strike authorization.
Let me break this down for you.
Stellantis management is literally saying we’re going to eliminate your job and gut your community, but we would appreciate your support.
The company has NO BUSINESS telling you how to vote.
But it’s clear that Stellantis is scared.
They’re scared that our union will finally start fighting back to save our plants and save our jobs.
For years this company picked us off plant by plant and our union took no action.
That’s why it was so important for us to win the right to strike over violations of the product commitments in our historic 2023 contract.
And now the company is scared.
They’re scared because rather than picking us off we now have the power to stand up together.
They’re scared of the power of our membership.
Stellantis is desperate to keep going down a path of cutting short-term costs even if it kills this company.
That path is a DEAD END.
And if UAW members have to strike to make them change course and keep their promise to America, that’s exactly what we’ll do.
Here’s Carlos Tavares’ plan for this company:
Carlos Tavares wants to kill good jobs in America and shift 80 percent of production to so-called “low-cost countries.”
These are high-exploitation, low-wage countries where workers make pennies on the dollar so Stellantis can ship the product back into the USA at an insane profit.
And Tavares is going to have his way, unless we in the UAW join together to stop him.
Carlos Tavares also wants to cut staffing and investment to the bone.
And that has real consequences for real people.
The lives of thousands of families in Belvidere, Ill., are hanging in the balance, as Stellantis tries to back out of their promise to reopen that plant.
Thousands of Michigan workers are under threat as Stellantis tries to back out of their commitments for the Dodge Durango at the Detroit Assembly Complex.
Carlos Tavares is also turning good union jobs into dangerous jobs.
At Stellantis’ Toledo Assembly plant in Ohio, one of our union brothers recently lost his life on the assembly line.
That’s what happens when you cut staffing to the bone, and force people to work endless hours.
It’s not safe. It’s not fair. And it’s not right.
Carlos Tavares is driving this company into the ground. Literally.
In Toledo, a smokestack recently collapsed and crushed an employee’s car – a Dodge Durango.
But we will not let Carlos Tavares continue to tear this company down.
For decades Stellantis management has been more than happy to sacrifice autoworker jobs and our communities at the altar of corporate greed.
The UAW has two words for Carlos Taveres and Stellantis: HELL NO.
If it takes a fight, we’ll fight.
If it takes a strike, we’ll strike.
Carlos, we’re voting yes.
To make Stellantis Keep The Promise.
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