Stellantis’ UAW-represented workers are set to receive profit-sharing checks this year that could hit $14,760, the largest payout per worker among the Detroit Three automakers.
That amount, announced Wednesday, represents an increase from 2022, when the company said checks would total $14,670. At that time, the company said it was the largest profit-sharing amount the company or its predecessors had announced in 35 years.
The checks, which are to be paid on March 10, will be based on individual compensated hours, meaning individual workers could see amounts that are higher or lower, according to a news release following the company’s 2022 earnings announcement early Wednesday. Supplemental workers are not eligible.
The automaker, which owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands, said its net profit jumped 26% in 2022 to almost $18 billion (16.8 billion euros).
The profit-sharing amount compares with $12,750 for General Motors workers and $9,176 for Ford workers. About 40,500 Stellantis workers are eligible for profit-sharing checks, the release said.
Although workers at the three companies will get large checks, taxes will take a bite out of what they can pocket.
Profit-sharing checks at Stellantis, for instance, “are subject to a flat 22% federal income tax withholding, plus withholding for normal state and local taxes, FICA or federal payroll taxes, deferred pay plan contributions and other legally required deductions,” company spokeswoman Jodi Tinson told the Free Press earlier this month.
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Mark Stewart, chief operating officer for Stellantis North America, said the profit-sharing announcement reflects the company’s robust financial performance last year.
“The significant contributions of our UAW-represented workforce enabled us to announce strong 2022 second half and full year financials today. These results reflect the discipline and determination with which they have approached the new vision for our company. I am proud of what this team was able to achieve last year in spite of the challenges we continued to face,” Stewart said in the release. Those challenges likely include continuing supply chain issues and the impacts of inflation.
Profit-sharing payouts are based on a formula announced as a result of 2019 contract bargaining of $900 per 1% of profit margin, which was a 12.5% improvement over the prior formula, according to the UAW.
The company said the amount is specifically based on the adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of the North American region.
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Bargaining for the next UAW contract is expected to get underway later this year.
Rich Boyer, UAW vice president and director of the union’s Stellantis department, noted the change in the formula in a statement, saying it “more accurately reflects the contributions of UAW members to the success of Stellantis. Today’s announcement that eligible UAW-Stellantis members will receive a record average profit-sharing amount of $14,760 confirms that the skill, dedication, and hard work of UAW members are a critical part of the success of Mopar, Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, Wagoneer and Dodge.”
Boyer, however, chose to highlight a sore spot for union members, the idling of the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, which was announced in December. The plant, where 1,350 workers face the prospect of layoff, produces the Jeep Cherokee SUV.
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“While we recognize that this profit sharing amount is rightly deserved, we also know that there is much work to be done. Our members at Belvidere (Local 1268) contributed to this profit sharing, yet the company has idled their plant. That decision will not stand, and we will fight to reverse it with UAW members, the Belvidere community, the state of Illinois, taxpayers, consumers and all who stand against corporate greed,” according to Boyer’s statement.
CEO Carlos Tavares has pointed to the higher cost of electrification and its potential impact on the company’s manufacturing footprint when asked about Belvidere’s future, and he did so again during a roundtable with reporters on Wednesday. Tavares touched on the issue again during a call a bit later with analysts and journalists, referencing the choices citizens have made through their selection of politicians who he indicated are pushing the automotive industry toward aggressive vehicle electrification goals.
“We, as citizens, have decided to go in the electrification path, which is very, very expensive,” Tavares said.
He did not make any definitive statement about the plant’s future, however, which could indicate that this will be an area of debate in the upcoming UAW contract talks.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.