UAW video criticizes Stellantis for broken promises and mismanagement

UAW Challenges Stellantis Amidst Italian Union Strike

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has released a video sharply criticizing Stellantis for not fulfilling its commitments to its members and pointing fingers at CEO Carlos Tavares for what they allege is poor management. This video release aligns with a one-day strike by Italian unions against Stellantis' major production cuts affecting metalworkers across Italy.

Access the video here. Media outlets are encouraged to use this footage.

UAW members from Belvidere, Illinois, were present at the strike, including UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell and UAW Local 1268 President Matt Frantzen. They joined thousands of protestors in Rome opposing Stellantis' corporate strategies. Despite a commitment in the 2023 contract to reopen the Belvidere plant, Stellantis has yet to deliver on this promise.

Photos from the Rome strike can be viewed here, and media are invited to use these images.

Highlighting Stellantis' reluctance to adhere to the $19 billion product and investment commitments from the 2023 Stand Up Strike, the video calls attention to unfulfilled pledges like reopening the Belvidere Assembly Plant. UAW President Shawn Fain addresses members, encouraging them to "stand up and fight" by signing a strike authorization pledge at ShitcanCarlos.com.

“This is about your job, your life, and the question is, are you going to let Carlos Tavares tell you to sit down and shut up?” Fain challenges in the video. “Or are you going to stand up and fight for what’s right, for what you deserve?”

Stellantis has attempted to counter the union's campaign by filing lawsuits and contacting union members. However, the UAW has already seen strike authorization votes pass in three locals, with more expected. If grievances related to Stellantis' failure to reopen Belvidere remain unresolved, strikes could occur at various facilities soon.

The UAW video calls members and allies to action, asserting the union's resolve to hold Stellantis accountable.

For further details, visit ShitcanCarlos.com for updates on the fight against Stellantis’ management practices.

Full Transcript of President Fain's Speech:

UAW family, as you may have heard, Stellantis has filed more than a dozen frivolous lawsuits against our Union. This is an act of desperation, plain and simple.

Two weeks ago, nearly 200 leaders from UAW locals across the country came to Detroit to discuss the situation at Stellantis.

At the meeting, we reviewed the clear evidence that CEO Carlos Tavares and Stellantis are seriously violating the product commitments in our national agreement. Stellantis has not kept its commitment in Belvedere and has unallocated the Dodge Durango from the Jefferson North Assembly Plant.

For years, this company has picked us off, plant by plant, and our leadership lacked the will and the means to fight back. The Stellantis Council unanimously decided that those days are over. All 200 UAW leaders unanimously recommended to the membership that every UAW worker at Stellantis prepare for a fight and that we all get ready to vote yes to authorize a strike at Stellantis.

Now in response, Stellantis is trying to use the federal courts to stop our campaign to get this company to keep the promises they made to American auto workers in our 2023 contract.

Stellantis management has launched a campaign of intimidation and harassment against our members, our local unions, and the International UAW to try to get us to back down from the fight to save our jobs.

I have bad news for Stellantis: we’re not going anywhere.

Their corporate lawyers are claiming that our fight to keep jobs in Belvedere, Detroit, and America is based on what they call “sham grievances.”

But here’s the real sham: over the past nine weeks, Stellantis has spent over a billion dollars on stock buybacks, all while saying they can’t afford to keep their commitments to their own employees. In fact, Stellantis has spent $3 billion on stock buybacks this year alone.

Our proposal would cost a fraction of what Carlos Tavares has pissed away on Wall Street to save his stock price, which is down 55% since March.

The real sham is this campaign of intimidation and interference in our Union’s business.

Stellantis managers are calling members, threatening their jobs. They’re emailing our local presidents threatening lawsuits.

This is what happens when a CEO is cornered and isolated. His dealers in America and Europe are turning against him. His suppliers and shareholders are suing him, and he’s pushing our customers away.

And the sham is that he will walk away with a golden parachute of millions and millions of dollars, while American autoworkers are left holding the bag.

The sham took place this week when he was asked about stepping down or being replaced. Carlos Tavares said, and I quote, “I signed a contract.”

Well, Carlos, the workers at Stellantis signed a contract too, and it’s time for you to honor it.

Our fight is about honoring a contract that Carlos Tavares signed. Our fight is about tens of thousands of American auto worker jobs, our families, and our communities.

This is about your job, your life, and the question is, are you going to let Carlos Tavares tell you to sit down and shut up? Or are you going to stand up and fight for what’s right, for what you deserve?

These aren’t sham grievances. These are our lives. Carlos Tavares is a sham CEO with a sham strategy to drive this company into the ground.

We will once again save this company from mismanagement, from corporate greed, and from killing tens of thousands of good jobs, but only if we stick together. Only if we stand up.

So, are you in? If you are, sign your strike authorization pledge today. And you can do that by going to shitcancarlos.com.

Let me repeat that: you can sign a strike authorization pledge by going to shitcancarlos.com.

Let the company know where you stand. And together, let’s tell Stellantis, the days of plant closures are over, and Carlos Tavares needs to go.