Stellantis files new lawsuits against United Auto Workers union

By David Shepardson, Ben Klayman

WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) -Chrysler parent Stellantis said on Monday it has filed eight additional lawsuits against the United Auto Workers and 23 local units, saying the union has violated its contract by threatening to strike over the company's delays in planned investments.

Stellantis had filed suit on Thursday against the UAW and UAW Local 230 in Los Angeles over the union's decision to take a strike authorization vote, saying it violates terms of the contract reached last fall.

The lawsuits have been filed in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts and Oregon.

UAW members at Stellantis’ Los Angeles parts distribution center voted on Thursday to request strike authorization if the company and union cannot settle a grievance over planned company investments.

Separately, the UAW said on Monday members at Stellantis’ Denver parts distribution center voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike without a settlement.

The Italian-American automaker said the new lawsuits prompted a Saturday meeting with the UAW, which proposed reinstituting a concept called the jobs bank, which generally prohibited the Detroit Three automakers from laying off employees. Stellantis called it "a contributing factor to the automaker’s bankruptcy in 2009" and rejected the proposal, saying it "would jeopardize the company’s future."

Stellantis agreed in 2023 within the UAW contract to invest $1.5 billion in its shuttered Belvidere, Illinois, assembly plant to build new mid-size trucks by 2027 as part of $19 billion in overall investment plans.

UAW President Shawn Fain said on Monday it is "gross mismanagement by top executives that is killing this company" and rejected the notion that "jobs banks caused the bankruptcy."

"We are asking that Stellantis keep their contractual commitments and do right by Belvidere autoworkers and autoworkers across the country," Fain said.

Stellantis acknowledged in August delaying some investments because of economic conditions but said it "firmly stands by its commitment."

The UAW wants to reinstate the jobs bank for employees in Belvidere and 900 employees who transferred from Belvidere and are working elsewhere. Under the 2023 contract, employees awaiting resumption of work at Belvidere get 74% of pay and full healthcare benefits, Stellantis said.

Harley Shaiken, a labor professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, said the protection of the Belvidere plant in last year's contract was key for the union.

"Stellantis is really drawing a line in the sand and taking a tough position and intends to fight this aggressively. The cost of that is the relationship with the union, which is heading downhill fast," Shaiken said.

The Energy Department said in July it plans to award Stellantis $334.8 million to convert the Belvidere assembly plant to build electric vehicles but that award is still not final.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Ben Klayman; Editing by Toby Chopra, Mark Porter and Rod Nickel)