Stellantis cites UAW strike for 500 layoffs at Trenton
Jeep maker Stellantis NV on Monday said it has laid off more than 500 workers at Downriver's Trenton Engine Complex and a few dozen more in Indiana in response to the United Auto Workers' strike at its Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio.
Because of "storage constraints," according to a statement from spokesperson Ann Marie Fortunate, Friday was the last day of work for 520 people at the Trenton engine plant — a majority of its more than 760 workers. UAW members at the Toledo Assembly Complex went on strike in the earliest hours of Sept. 15, prompting a current total of 640 employees on layoff.
The layoffs come as Ford Motor Co. also laid off several dozen more workers in Livonia total 1,800 layoffs from the strike, and GM did so in Lansing and Toledo for a total of 2,230 layoffs.
Losses from the unprecedented simultaneous strike against the Detroit Three automakers grew to $5.5 billion through the third full week of the strike, according to an analysis released Monday by Anderson Economic Group, an East Lansing-based economic consultancy that has done work for Ford and GM. That figure sets a new record for auto industry strike losses in the 21st century, according to AEG.
The estimate includes $579 million in direct wage losses, $2.68 billion in Detroit Three losses, $1.6 billion in supplier losses and $1.26 billion in dealer and customer losses.
“The third week was more costly than the last 2 because we saw additional factories shuttered and parts shortages reported at dealerships,” AEG CEO Patrick Anderson said in a statement.
Stellantis layoffs
Trenton Engine's top consumer of its 3.6-liter V-6 Pentastar Upgrade product is the Chrysler Pacifica minivan that is assembled in Windsor, Ontario, according to its website. That plant is undergoing retooling for battery-electric and hybrid models on a new architecture for multiple models as a part of a $2.7 billion investment into Windsor as well as the Brampton Assembly Plant outside Toronto.
As a result, Trenton had been producing engines for the Jeep models built in Toledo, said UAW Local 372 President Dave Gerbi. Because that plant is on strike, Stellantis is citing the walkout as the reason for the layoff.
"I got a last-minute call Friday at 3:15 p.m. that the layoffs were starting Monday," he said. "Basically, a curveball was thrown our way. Toledo is not the biggest customer we supply. This is a way for the company to eat into our strike fund. I don’t agree that Toledo is our No. 1 supplier and enough for us to be put down."
That matters, because the plant idling as a result of the labor dispute means the workers don't receive state-funded unemployment and company-sponsored supplemental unemployment benefits, Gerbi said. Instead, he received confirmation from the international UAW on Monday that the laid-off Trenton workers would receive the $500 per week stipend being received by UAW members on strike at the Detroit Three as well as those who were laid off by the companies because of the walkouts.
A request for comment on the claim was left with a Stellantis representative on Monday evening.
The strike and defense fund had sat at more than $825 million prior to the Sept. 14 expiration of the contracts with the Detroit Three. UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock on Sunday said the fund remains "healthy," though she didn't have an exact figure.
The layoff decision hurts many workers financially, said Caesar Seay, 67, of Southgate, a 12-year UAW member who works on the line at Trenton. But it's particularly a strain mentally, especially for him and his colleagues, because Trenton Engine is one of the plants Stellantis has requested to have the ability to sell or close in the negotiations. One idea is to use the site to combine several Mopar parts distribution centers in Michigan to create a hub there.
"They say it's slated to be closed," Seay said. "It might not come back up. We may have to go to other plants, and that would change the distance and traveling, possibly uprooting your home and families.
"We're not trying to kill them to the point where when this is all over we don't have a job," he continued. "I want to see more progress, and I'm trying to really believe in the (UAW) leadership."
In addition to Stellantis' layoffs in Trenton, Friday marked the last day for 50 workers at Kokomo Casting Plant in Indiana, a fraction of the more than 1,100 workers there.
Meanwhile, on Monday, approximately 300 employees previously laid off because of the strike on Sept. 22 from Kokomo Transmission and Casting plants returned to work.
The other 70 Stellantis workers at Toledo Machining Plant who were laid off on Sept. 22 remain out of work.
"Stellantis," Fortunate said, "continues to closely monitor the impact of the UAW strike action on our manufacturing operations."
Ford, GM and suppliers
Ford asked 71 Livonia Transmission Plant employees not to report to work beginning Monday, as well. That layoff stems from the strike at Chicago Assembly Plant, where it builds the Explorer, Lincoln Aviator and Police Interceptor SUVs.
“While we are doing what we can to avoid layoffs, we have no choice but to reduce production of parts that would be destined for a plant that is on strike,” Bryce Currie, vice president for Americas manufacturing and labor affairs for Ford Blue, said in a statement. “Strike-related layoffs are an unfortunate result of the UAW’s strategy.”
GM on Monday updated its strike impact graphic showing more employees have been laid off as a result of work stoppages at the automaker's Customer Care and Aftersales facilities, mid-size truck plant in Missouri and Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave plant near Lansing. The automaker's Toledo Propulsion Systems plant now has 430 employees out of work, up from the previous 358, and GM's Lansing Regional Stamping plant now has 70 employees out of work.
The strike also has hit suppliers. Most recently in Michigan, supplier Sodecia Automotive Detroit told the state in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filing that it had to lay off temporarily 143 employees of 232 at its plant in Center Line in Macomb County. The company reported it does metal stamping for vehicles. It didn't specify which automaker it supplies in the WARN filing.
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