Fain letter urges UAW Stellantis members to be ready to OK strike

The UAW is urging its members at Stellantis to get ready to OK a strike against the automaker.

In a letter Friday, UAW President Shawn Fain and Kevin Gotinsky, director of the union's Stellantis Department, made the case for a strike against the automaker that owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands.

The union says the automaker isn't living up to its product and investment commitments in the contract the two sides negotiated last year. The company has pushed back against the union's claims .

The company has acknowledged it is delaying a reopening of the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, plans to cut a shift at Warren Truck this year and won't say whether it intends to move Dodge Durango production from Detroit to Windsor, Ontario.

This week, the automaker, citing market conditions and vehicle affordability needs, also said it plans indefinite layoffs of union-represented workers "across its footprint" as well as terminating supplemental workers at many of its U.S. manufacturing plants but declined to provide specifics.

The letter, which followed a meeting of nearly 200 local leaders this week, calls for members to stand together and blasts the company's CEO. It says the group reviewed the "serious violations" of the contract and "patterns of illegal behavior" by the company.

"The evidence is clear that CEO Carlos Tavares is steering Stellantos on a crash course that will cause our members tremendous harm. Given all that we heard, we resolved to meet this make-or-break moment without fear and to fight for the rights of our members," according to the letter, which the union posted on its Facebook page. "We unanimously recommend to the membership that every UAW worker at Stellantis prepare for a fight, and we all get ready to vote yes to authorize a strike."

In a recent Facebook Live address , Fain described how various union locals had filed grievances with the company over the issues as well as charges with the National Labor Relations Board. During that address, he spoke about how upcoming strike votes would unfold as the grievance process plays out.

The exact timing of strike votes wasn’t clear Friday, and if a strike is authorized that does not automatically mean a strike will happen.

More: UAW's Fain says strike authorization votes planned against Stellantis

More: Stellantis plans UAW layoffs 'across its footprint,' but provides no specifics

The company says the union cannot strike over the investment issues at this time, which the union disputes.

The letter said that "we will keep you updated as we move forward, holding Stellantis to account."

Stellantis spokeswoman Ann Marie Fortunate referred a reporter to a statement released by the company earlier in the week when asked for comment on the letter. That statement disputed Fain's contention about the level of investment to date, saying he wasn't giving the company credit for some earlier investments in Kokomo, Indiana.

The statement also said that “the investments and timelines are not absolute guarantees, as Fain has wrongly and repeatedly characterized, but contingent upon numerous factors, including market conditions.”

The company's fight with the union comes as the automaker has struggled with declining sales in recent reporting periods in the key U.S. market, lower profits and market share and an outcry from its U.S. dealers, who have also called out Tavares for the direction of the company. The automaker said it was launching a search for a successor to Tavares but framed it as a normal part of planning since his contract expires in 2026.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com . Become a subscriber . Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters .

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Fain letter urges UAW Stellantis members to be ready to OK strike