UAW Hits Stellantis Truck Plant With Strike, Sparking Production Shutdown

The United Auto Workers union has hit Stellantis' largest and most profitable plant with a labor action, causing production at the facility to come to a screeching halt. 

UAW wrote in a statement that 6,800 union members at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan walked off the job and are joining the rest of the striking union on the picket lines, demanding increased pay and benefits in a new four-year labor contract. 

"The workers who make Stellantis' best-selling RAM 1500 trucks are joining the unprecedented Stand Up Strike at all three of the Big Three automakers. The move comes just days after UAW President Shawn Fain detailed the current proposals across the automakers, highlighting the shortcomings of Stellantis' current offer," UAW said. 

The union said, "Stellantis has the worst proposal on the table regarding wage progression, temporary worker pay and conversion to full-time, cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), and more." 

Last Friday, UAW boss Shawn Fain did not expand strikes at Detroit's Big Three automakers. He said, "There is more to be won," adding, "These are already record contracts, but they come at the end of decades of record decline. So it's not enough to be the best ever, when auto workers have gone backward over the last two decades. That's a very low bar."

Despite those comments, Fain did not mention a report from Bloomberg earlier Friday that the union lowered its pay hike demand to 25%. 

Today's expansion of strikes means the union has more than 40,000 members holding firm on the picket lines. 

Earlier this month, General Motors activated a multi-billion dollar credit line from JPMorgan Chase Bank, indicating the automaker might be bracing for prolonged strikes.