DETROIT—Autoworkers marching by the hundreds here told Stellantis yesterday they are ready to strike to defend workers the company is dumping by going back on agreements it made with the UAW a year ago in the historic Strand Up strike that won major concessions from all three auto giants.
“This all starts with Belvidere,” declared Kevin Gotinsky, director of the United Auto Workers Stellantis Department, to a crowd of hundreds of Auto Workers and union activists on Thursday. “We are here to stand up to Stellantis and Detroit stands with Belvidere…we got your back,” Gotinsky declared. Stellantis is going back on its agreement to get its huge plant in Belvidere, Illinois up and running and the workers are determined to change that.
The rally took place at UAW Local 1264 in Sterling Heights, Mich., just down the road from the massive Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) stamping plant there. Auto Workers, wearing red UAW shirts and carrying signs with the messages “Stand Up Stellantis” and “Keep The Promise!” rallied to demonstrate their determination to hold the auto company to the terms of the contract that workers won during the Stand-Up strike last year.
The workers pledged to strike Stellantis, if necessary. They marched hundreds strong down 15 Mile Road to the plant singing “Solidarity Forever,” “Mighty Mighty Union,” and shouting “Keep The Promise!”
Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit was present in the march. Tlaib is a stalwart supporter of the union movement and a major figure in the working-class community in Detroit. Her father was formerly a member of the UAW.
“We’re not asking for anything more than what was in the contract,” said Doug McIntosh, president of Local 1264, which represents workers at the stamping plant. “But we refuse to take anything less!”
Auto Workers responded by shouting “Keep the promise! Keep the promise! Keep the promise!”
In August, Stellantis announced it would be laying off as many as 2,450 workers at the Warren, Mich., Truck plant who build an older version of the Ram 1500 pickup, the Tradesman. The layoffs could start as early as October 8.
The UAW demands Stellantis “rescind its decision to push back the launches and immediately plan for and fund the Belvidere investments in order to comply with the agreed upon timeline for launching the Belvidere Mega Hub (2024), the Belvidere Stamping operation (2025) and Belvidere midsize truck production (2027).”
LaShawn English, director of UAW Region 1 and a 25-year veteran of Stellantis, told the crowd that the company demonstrated time and time again that they have no respect for workers.
“They don’t care about workers, our families, or our communities. But we have the power as a union to hold them accountable,” English said. “They can just send a text message to our members that they’re fired…They are cowards!”
Debbie Lynch and Christopher Haddad, auto workers at the Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, and members of UAW Local 12, drove up to Michigan for the rally to show Stellantis that they are strike ready.
“We went on strike for six weeks last year to prevent this from happening and secure a fair contract,” Lynch told People’s World. “After they [Stellantis] called us and told us to vote ‘no’ on the strike, I really wanted to make the drive up here. Before they called me at my home, I was iffy on the strike vote. Now, I am fully determined to strike.”
Auto Workers President Shawn Fain told the workers that Stellantis’ tactic of telling the workers how to vote on the strike authorization is like saying “We’re going to eliminate your job and gut your community, but we would appreciate your support. This company has no business telling our members how to vote and it’s clear Stellantis is scared.”
“A strike will cripple this company. If we have to strike it’s because of Stellantis not honoring their commitment…We are united and they can’t pick us off plant by plant,” he said.
Solidarity greetings were given by members of Teamsters Local 283, who are also in a battle of their own across the city at the Marathon oil refinery. Workers there have been on strike for four weeks demanding a fair contract, better working conditions, and a wall-to-wall union shop.
Local 283 member Jeff Tricoff told People’s World the UAW has been consistent in their support of the refinery workers, from donations to walking the picket lines in Southwest Detroit at the Marathon plant. Fain shouted out the Teamster members at the Stellantis rally, saying “We stand up together as a united working class!”
“It’s all about solidarity,” Tricoff said. “What the unions are doing is for the entire working class. It’s not a selfish ‘only a union worker’ type of thing. When unions win it brings up every other worker with them. We’re here to support our brothers and sisters in the UAW today.”
Stellantis has been pushing back their end of the bargain with the union, with planned developments being either delayed or reneged on. The plant in Belvidere, Ilinois stands as the starkest example.
“The approach of the corporation has been to cut heads and downsize 10% year over year. They are giving our members shorter staffing with higher workloads. This adds hazards to our members. We tragically lost one of our members” in Toledo “due to Stellantis’ unsafe working conditions” and corporate greed, said UAW Stellantis Department Director Gotinsky. “They are turning good union jobs into dangerous jobs.”
Antonio Gaston, the worker who tragically died, was never supposed to be in a situation where he could be killed at the Toledo plant. He and his family were ripped out of their normal life near the Belvidere plant when Stellantis shut down operations there and he was transferred to Toledo.
“Stellantis was supposed to invest $18.9 billion in our facilities… Now the company is walking back. But we won the right to strike in our new contract and that’s exactly what we’re going to do!” Gotinsky declared to the crowd of Auto Workers.
They responded by shouting “Strike! Strike! Strike!” and wearing stickers that read “Vote YES To Strike Stellantis.”
David Sandoval, a member of UAW Local 400 and an activist in the Unite All Workers For Democracy (UAWD) caucus, told People’s World that “our union is changing our approach now on enforcing our contracts.”
“We are united and ready to stand up. This rally is just a glimpse.”
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