(CBS DETROIT) — Stellantis has filed a lawsuit against the United Auto Workers union, which continues to fight over the 2023 bargaining agreement and the UAW’s threat to strike.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court Central District of California, alleges that the UAW “filed sham grievances to justify mid-contract strikes against Stellantis that would otherwise violate the [the collective bargaining agreement’s] no strike clause.”
Stellantis claims the union ignored language in Brief 311, which allows the automaker to make plans for future investments with company approval and subject to change based on consumer demand, changes in market conditions and plant performance.
The automaker, the parent company of fourteen brands including Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, is seeking a court declaration that the union “acted in bad faith” and violated the bargaining agreement.
“By ignoring this negotiated and mutually agreed upon language in Letter 311, the UAW and its agents, including President Shawn Fain, have embarked on a sustained, multi-month campaign against the company to force the planned investments without approval from the company and anyway. of business factors,” read the lawsuit.
This comes as the UAW announced that a supermajority of Local 230 members at the Stellantis parts distribution center in Los Angeles have voted to seek strike authorization from the International Executive Board if they cannot resolve the complaints.
This is the first time Stellantis union members have held such a vote since several UAW residents began filing complaints against the automaker, according to a news release.
“Stellantis has made a contractual commitment to invest in America and we will not let them pass on that,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in the news release. “Our members won those investments during the Stand Up strike, and we will strike again to ensure Stellantis keeps the promise if it has to.”
According to an internal email obtained by CBS News Detroit, Stellantis informed employees that the company would sue the UAW, saying both parties understood the risk that investments would be adjusted due to current demand.
“The facts are indisputable: the transition to electrification is happening at a slower pace than expected,” read the email. “We knew that slower consumer adoption of EVs could potentially delay our product launches and investment decisions. Many of our competitors know this too and have also announced investment and product delays, as well as outright product cancellations.”
The email also stated that the lawsuit would “hold both the international and local unions liable for the loss of income and other damages resulting from loss of production resulting from an unlawful strike.”
However, Fain has repeatedly stated that the union earned the right to strike under the 2023 agreement due to alleged broken promises. Fain also said other UAW locals plan to vote on strike permits in response to claims the company was trying shift production of the Dodge Durango out of the country and postponing the reopening of the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois.
On Thursday, hundreds of UAW members gathered in Sterling Heightscalling on Stellantis to maintain Durgano production in Detroit and reopen the Belvidere plant.
Citing market conditions that contributed to Belvidere’s slowdown, Stellantis proposed a consolidated Mopar Mega Hub that would end operations in 2025 and assign a new midsize truck in 2027, the lawsuit said. The company also said Letter 311 included a planned future investment in the next generation Durango in 2026 at the Detroit Assembly Complex.
The automaker said in the lawsuit that these plans are subject to commission approval due to the “unpredictability” and “highly volatile” auto markets.
