At the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, where the manufacturer is getting ready to produce the first battery-electric Ram 1500 REV truck in 2025, Stellantis is laying off around 200 employees.
The parent company of 14 brands, including Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep, announced that certain union workers will be let go permanently and that it will lay off seasonal supplemental workers.
The seasonal supplemental workers, who were employed to assist with production throughout the summer, will be let go at the beginning of next week.
“Seasonal supplemental employees hired to support production by covering for increased vacation usage during the summer months will be separated from the Company effective Oct. 1, in accordance with the 2023 UAW collective bargaining agreement,” Stellantis stated.
To shield the manufacturer from the current state of the market and enable them to produce automobiles that consumers can buy, additional workers will be laid off in addition to these seasonal workers.
“Stellantis is in full execution mode focused on both protecting the company from the continued intense external market conditions and, at the same time, offering customers vehicles they can afford,” automaker stated. “As such, we are continuing to take the necessary actions to improve operations across our facilities; this includes on-going assessments of our manufacturing processes to improve efficiency. While that effort continues, the Company will be implementing indefinite layoffs of represented employees across its footprint.”
Union leadership announced in a letter to Local 1700 workers that 14 full-time union employees will be laid off indefinitely and that 177 seasonal employees will be terminated.
This comes after Stellantis revealed that, in order to get ready to construct the company’s first battery-electric light-duty vehicle, the 2025 Ram 1500 REV, it is investing $406 million in three Michigan sites, including the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant.
Marick Masters, an emeritus professor of business at Wayne Stated that, “They (layoffs) come on the heels of a major dispute between Stellantis and United Auto Workers over whether the company has lived up to its commitments made in the 2023 contract.”
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According to Masters, the Big Three automakers’ choice to reduce employment will only make UAW members’ dissatisfaction grow.
“This just adds fuel to the fire and could result in another unfair labor practice filing,” according to him.
UAW President Shawn Fain has made no secret of the fact that Stellantis has failed to live up to the terms of a contract that was agreed upon last year, which Masters claims increases the likelihood of a strike.
