Belvidere, IL – On Thursday, August 22nd, UAW members and leaders, including UAW President Shawn Fain, Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell, and Local 1268 President Matt Frantzen, will rally in Belvidere, Illinois to call on Stellantis to keep the commitment the company made to reopen Belvidere Assembly and invest in thousands of jobs in that community.
On Monday, UAW locals representing tens of thousands of Stellantis workers filed grievances with the company over their failure to Keep the Promise made in contract negotiations in 2023. Once the grievance procedure is exhausted under the national contract, the union may authorize a strike.
“This isn’t just a local fight or just a union fight,” said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell. “This is a fight for the dignity of work in America. Union or not, from Belvidere or not. If we don’t Stand Up now, when will we? If we don’t Stand Up to protect American jobs, what will we stand for?”
“The victories we won last year in our Stand Up Strike at the Big Three weren’t suggestions, they were binding commitments in a union contract, and we as the UAW intend to enforce that contract to the fullest extent,” said UAW President Shawn Fain.
“I find a pathetic irony in the fact that Stellantis is now, for the first time, citing ‘market conditions’ as their reason for attempting to break their promises to Belvidere and autoworkers across America. It’s always ‘market conditions’ when they have to stiff an autoworker or close a plant. It’s never ‘market conditions’ when they want to raise CEO pay by 56%. Carlos Tavares is telling the American autoworker, ‘Market conditions for thee, but not for me.’”
“They say they want to ‘delay’ reopening Belvidere Assembly but they really want to kick the can past our contract expiration so they can suddenly cite ‘market conditions’ again and never open this plant, never repair the damage they’ve done to thousands of autoworkers and their families. And it’s not just Belvidere. If they go back on this, what else will they go back on? As the company attacks us with layoffs during the most profitable times, what jobs will those workers have left to transfer into? This company made a commitment, on a timeline, to invest in the American autoworker and invest in Belvidere, and that’s why we’re ready to take action to make sure Stellantis keeps the promise.”
For more information on the fight to make Stellantis Keep the Promise, visit UAW.org/KeepThePromise.
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