UAW President Shawn Fain took the contract proposals from Stellantis — owner of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands — and literally threw them into the wastebasket on Tuesday.
“Seeing this trash coming from Stellantis’ leadership, I thought it was imperative to make you understand where we’re headed,” Fain said during a member update streamed live on Facebook. “If the Big Three companies don’t start getting serious … then, you know, come Sept. 14 we’re going to have to see what happens. I don’t think they’re going to be happy with it.”
Contract negotiations with the Detroit Three have only just begun. A spokesperson for Stellantis couldn’t be immediately reached for comment. The Detroit Free Press left phone, text and email messages.
Fain, a populist leader elected by members in January, hosted a “special bargaining update” to voice anger about Stellantis and warn the other Detroit Three automakers in the midst of negotiating a four-year labor contract.
Fain said Stellantis seems disinterested in addressing wage disparities among factory workers.
“Stellantis isn’t listening,” he said. “Stellantis knows our members deserve more.”
Rather than take seriously UAW member demand to eliminate tiers, Stellantis proposed the creation of new ones, Fain said. “Instead of getting to work on negotiating the significant wage gains of our members that they’ve earned and deserve, Stellantis is threatening our profit-sharing formula.”
The Auburn Hills automaker is also proposing cuts to existing medical coverage, eliminating holiday conversion options, offering fewer vacation days for certain workers, expanding the company’s right to force members to work overtime, cutting the 401(k) contribution, gutting transfer rights based on seniority, eliminating the moratorium on outsourcing and lifting the cap on the use of temporary employees, Fain said.
“Stellantis even had the nerve to demand a unilateral right to demand further concessions during the life of the contract and push for the union to allow the company to make those changes without a vote of our membership,” he said. “The contract currently proposed by Stellantis would deepen the divisions in our workplace, not eliminate them. These proposals would make life harder and a lot more stressful.”
The UAW strike fund is healthy, he said, urging members not to fear bills and commitments if there’s a strike.
“We understand how to manage this. We have a plan. If these companies don’t deliver, they’re going to see that plan unfold. We can’t live in fear,” he said. “We can accomplish anything. We have all the power. We just have to remember our roots. The founders of this union didn’t have a strike fund when they started. They didn’t care. They had a mission. … Our members are not going to be denied what they’re due.”
‘Staggering’ profits and ‘schemes’
Stellantis is the company with the “fattest” profit margins and earnings, making a “staggering” $12.1 billion in the first half of 2023, and CEO Carlos Tavares saw his salary grow by 72% over the past four years, Fain said. “The average Stellantis worker would have to work full-time for 365 years to make what Carlos Tavares does in just one year.”
He was compensated $24.8 million in 2022.
Why is the company issuing stock buyback “schemes” that benefit the rich when some employees live paycheck to paycheck, Fain asked. “Stellantis is rich thanks to the value created by the members. It’s our labor that drives the company’s success.”
While Stellantis is telling the media that they’re not urging concessions, everything about their actions illustrate they’re not telling the truth, Fain said. “Stellantis has passed over a list of initial proposals that are riddled with givebacks. It’s amazing to me. … It’s a pathetic irony that Carlos Tavares can’t bother to show up to bargaining and that Mark Stewart, COO (chief operating officer, Stellantis North America) was late … as they move forward they want to talk about absenteeism with our workers.”
Meanwhile, overworked UAW members are wrestling with mental health issues, an increase in suicides among colleagues and fights in the plants “that can be attributed to what’s going on in society,” Fain said. “Wages have regressed, even in the Big Three. … Workers are working longer hours, they’re working harder than they ever have for less money. Something’s got to give here.”
Record profit-sharing checks
Fain said Stellantis had “broken its pledge” not to pursue concessionary bargaining, which emphasizes the need for union leaders to make concessions in exchange for job security.
Note: This was done by the UAW during the Great Recession from 2007-09, in an attempt to keep companies from going bankrupt. General Motors and Chrysler couldn’t survive without government support. The crisis of the past guides Ford strategy even today.
On Aug. 1, Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson told the Detroit Free Press, “We have been clear from the start that we are not seeking a concessionary agreement. As we have done for more than 70 years, we will work constructively and collaboratively with the UAW to find solutions that will result in a contract that is competitive in the global market, responsibly addresses employee concerns and meets the needs of our customers.”
More:GM confirms future wage hike for UAW members, but other demands ‘threaten’ company health
More:With strike talk prevalent as UAW negotiates, labor expert weighs in
Now the companies are financially healthy, and it’s time for UAW members to collect, Fain has said.
He revealed an “audacious” set of UAW member demands on Aug. 1 during a Facebook presentation streamed live, and those demands apply to each Detroit Three automaker equally, including “double-digit raises, the restoration of COLA (cost of living adjustment), and ending (wage) tiers,” Fain said.
The UAW has emphasized since the start of contract negotiations that the Detroit Three have made a quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits over the past decade.
And in March 2023, about 40,500 Stellantis workers received the largest payout in profit-sharing checks in more than three decades at $14,760, the largest payout per worker among the Detroit Three. The profit-sharing amount compares with $12,750 for General Motors workers and $9,176 for Ford workers.
At issue is whether the Detroit Three really think its factory workers are “stupid,” Fain said.
An ‘insult’ followed with a warning
“Stellantis’ proposals are … an insult to our members’ hard work over the last four years,” he said. “Rather than honoring the sacrifices made by the employees, management chose to spit in our faces.”
He read from the list, “The company wants to schedule mandatory vacation shutdowns without restriction on duration, timing, notice and cancellation criteria. They want to reduce the company’s notification requirements for modifying shift start times. … The biggest one to me was this issue about … establishing an ability to reopen and bargain provisions of our agreements that don’t require ratification.”
This is when he said he wanted to file the document where it belonged — in the trash.
Fain warned, “My message to Stellantis is quit with the games. Stop with the lies. … We’re 37 days away from the (contract) deadline. These companies better wake up. This is a deadline, it’s not a reference point.”
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.