Samsung SDI says it hasn't spoken with GM, Stellantis about UAW talks

Samsung SDI, one of the key partners in General Motors Co.'s and Stellantis' electric-vehicle battery manufacturing operations, says it hasn't had discussions with the automakers in relation to their labor negotiations with the The Detroit Three automakers.

"Based on what I have checked with our JV team," spokesperson Stella Song said in a recent email to The Detroit News, "Samsung SDI hasn't been discussing the issue with either of the two companies."

The statement comes after the UAW earlier this month said GM, to prevent its full-size SUV plant in Arlington, Texas, from going on strike, agreed to include battery manufacturing plant workers in its master agreement that covers vehicle production workers. The UAW has about 34,000 workers on strike in an unprecedented simultaneous walkout against the Detroit Three. Sunday marked the 38th day.

Facing the future threat of lost engine and transmission jobs, the union hailed GM's concession as a major victory, though details like whether those workers would receive compensation parity with their assembly plant counterparts haven't been shared. The issue has been a main item of discussion at formal meetings between the union and all three Detroit automakers.

GM hasn't acknowledged the inclusion of battery plant workers in its agreement in public statements. A GM spokesperson referred to the automaker's previous statement, saying: "Negotiations remain ongoing, and we will continue to work towards finding solutions to address outstanding issues. Our goal remains to reach an agreement that rewards our employees and allows GM to be successful into the future.”

The joint venture from GM and Samsung SDI is planning a more-than-$3 billion battery cell manufacturing plant in the United States in New Carlisle, Indiana, that will be operational in 2026 and create thousands of jobs. Stellantis and Samsung SDI's joint venture, StarPlus Energy, have announced two battery plants in Kokomo, Indiana, for a total investment of $6.3 billion and 2,800 jobs. One will open in 2025, and the other in 2027.

GM also has partnered with LG Energy Solution for three Ultium Cells LLC U.S. battery plants. One in northeast Ohio's Warren is operating, and it became in December the one and only battery plant of the Detroit Three organized by the UAW so far.

A key point is that none of the plants the automakers have announced with Samsung SDI have begun hiring, let alone have been organized by the union. Workers need a majority of support in an election or card check to unionize their workplace.

"They can’t do as much," Art Wheaton — an automotive industry specialist at Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations School who has performed training for the UAW, GM and Ford — said about Samsung SDI's involvement in the talks. "They don’t have a workforce that has been in the union yet. It would be inappropriate for them without having a union falling under a union contract."

Including the already-organized workers at Ultium Cells in GM's master agreement, he said, would set a pattern that the union would expect similar ventures for Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis to follow if the UAW does unionize them.

In a statement from Stellantis spokesperson Shawn Morgan, the company didn't directly address the battery plant issue. CEO Carlos Tavares previously had said the company would remain neutral on efforts by battery-plant workers to organize.

"Stellantis remains committed to working with the UAW to negotiate a new agreement that balances our employees' concerns with our vision for the future — one that better positions the business to meet the challenges of the U.S. marketplace and secures the future for all of our employees, their families and our company," Morgan said.

"We have been clear that during these negotiations we intend to fairly reward our represented employees for their contributions to the success of the Company. However, it will be critical to find common ground that doesn’t jeopardize our ability to continue investing in the affordable products, services and technology that our customers want and that would allow us to continue providing good jobs here at home."

A UAW representative declined to comment on the Samsung SDI statement.

"GM has now agreed in writing to place their electric battery manufacturing under our national master agreement," UAW President Shawn Fain said on Oct. 7 during a Facebook Live presentation, announcing the automaker's move. "We've been told for months that this is impossible. We've been told the EV future must be a race to the bottom. And now we've called their bluff. What this will mean for our membership cannot be understated."

Fain didn't mention the battery plants in his latest livestreamed update on Friday. He characterized the talks as combative with the automakers in an attempt to get a stronger deal than the already "record contracts" on the table to organize the nonunionized workers at foreign and EV automakers producing in the United States.

"We won’t be used in this phony competition," he said. "We will always and forever be on the side of working people everywhere. Non-union auto workers are not the enemy. Those are our future union family.”

That likely includes workers at battery plants directly owned by battery makers like Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution, too, said Marick Masters, a management professor at Wayne State University.

"They have their own entities in place," he said. Fain "is saying, 'We’d like to organize those, as well.' He’s not going to wait a moment once he gets these contracts done to go after the transplants."

The battery-plant issue is a permissive subject of bargaining, which means it can't be negotiated to an impasse. But it's critical for the union and its future that it can organize those plants and ensure those autoworkers don't lose out on wages and benefits for which the union has fought over the years.

A deal struck in August between Ultium and the UAW raised the starting rate for production operators at the organized Ohio plant to $20 per hour from $16.50, though top wages still trail the $32.32 per hour a senior traditional GM employee makes under the contract that expired on Sept. 14. The UAW and Ultium still are negotiating an inaugural contract.

Days after the announcement that GM would include battery-plant workers in its master agreement, Ford's joint venture with Korean battery maker SK Innovation announced positions at their BlueOval SK battery plants in Stanton, Tennessee, and Glendale, Kentucky, with wages ranging between $24 and $37.50 per hour. Production is slated to begin there in 2025.

The automakers have proposed 23% not-compounded wage increases, cost-of-living adjustments, a reduced timeline for workers to get to the top wage, increased temporary and supplemental worker pay, increased retirement contributions and product commitments. But Fain on Friday said he still believes "there is more to be won," even as leaders at GM and Ford signal they're stretching to make their offers.

He also rebuffed Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr., who publicly appealed last week for an end to the strike and said the UAW and the automaker should unite against foreign competitors. “I want to be crystal clear on one thing," Fain said. "The days of the UAW and Ford being a team to fight other companies are over."

Given Ford's decades-long reputation as having the best relationship with the UAW of the Detroit automakers, Fain's comments mark a dramatic shift for the union.

The automakers are set to report their third-quarter financial results starting this week. GM will share its results on Tuesday followed by Ford on Thursday. Stellantis will share shipments and revenue for the quarter on Oct. 31.

"It's more fuel to the fire," Wheaton said about how the results could shape the talks. "'Even in this strike, they’re profitable' will be the talking point. It's leverage."

Since Sept. 15, workers at Ford's Bronco and Ranger Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Stellantis' Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio, and GM's midsize truck and commercial van plant in Wentzville, Missouri, outside St. Louis have been on strike. The union later called out workers at GM's and Stellantis' parts distribution centers and then GM's Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave plant in Delta Township outside Lansing and Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant, which makes the Explorer, Lincoln Aviator and Police Interceptor.

The last Detroit Three autoworkers called on strike was more than a week and a half ago at Ford's most profitable plant — Kentucky Truck Assembly in Louisville, home of the Super Duty pickups, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.

There has been conflict on the picket lines. A video posted on Facebook shortly after midnight on Friday showed a man in a Midwest Freight Systems truck attempting to enter the property of Stellantis' Mopar parts distribution center in Warren off Sherwood Avenue exiting his vehicle after he was blocked by picketers. In the man's hand as he approached the strikers was a gun that was pointed to the ground.

In a statement Sunday, Jim Kosak, director of business development for the truck company, said: "Midwest Freight Systems does not condone any violence and we have a strict policy against the possession of firearms in our trucks, on our property or at our customers.

"The driver know longer is employed by Midwest Freight Systems."

An inquiry about the incident was left with the Warren Police Department.

Photos of hired security also circulated online outside Stellantis facilities that are on strike. The company has called upon non-bargaining unit employees to volunteer to work in parts distribution centers while UAW-represented workers are on strike.

"Stellantis respects the right of those on strike to advocate for their position, including their right to peacefully picket, and strongly condemns any and all acts of violence," Stellantis spokesperson Jodi Tinson said in a statement. "To protect the safety and security of our employees, the picketers and the public as well as prevent threatening activity, Stellantis has hired a security firm at certain facilities currently on strike. We are following our contingency plans to ensure we can still run the business without putting anyone in harm’s way."

bnoble@detroitnews.com

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