The United Auto Workers said Monday it has called workers to strike at a Ram 1500 pickup-truck factory that the union called the “largest and biggest moneymaker” for Stellantis NV.
Some 6,800 UAW members at the Stellantis
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plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., are on strike, the union said.
It’s the second time the UAW has called for strikes at a factory making highly profitable and desirable pickup trucks. Earlier this month, the union called for a strike at a Ford Motor Co.
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pickup-truck plant in Kentucky.
Stellantis said it was “outraged” about the strike expansion into its Sterling Heights plant.
The company had a “new, improved” offer on the table last week but hasn’t received a counterproposal from the UAW, it said. Stellantis’s proposal called for raises of around 23% over the four-year contract, the company said.
“Our very strong offer would address member demands and provide immediate financial gains for our employees,” the carmaker said. “The UAW’s continued disturbing strategy of ‘wounding’ all the Detroit 3 will have long-lasting consequences.”
The union, for its part, said that Stellantis “lags behind both Ford and General Motors
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in addressing the demands of their UAW workforce,” despite having “the highest revenue, the highest profits (North American and global), the highest profit margins, and the most cash in reserve.”
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The walkout at the Sterling Heights factory brings the total number of UAW members on strike at the Big Three automakers to more than 40,000 and comes as the strike nears the six-week mark.
The strike started at the stroke of midnight on Sept. 14, as the contract expiration came and went without an agreement.
The union has broken with its longstanding tradition of striking at one carmaker at a time. It started off by calling for strikes at one plant each of all three automakers. The strike has since grown to include seven assembly plants and 38 parts-distribution centers in 22 states, the union said.
Updating the union membership on Friday, UAW President Shawn Fain stopped short of announcing which plants the union will strike at next and said there had been “serious movement” in the negotiations.
They were at the “hardest part of a strike,” Fain said, adding: “Right before a deal is when there’s the most aggressive push for that last mile.”
Shares of Stellantis trading in New York rose 1.6% in midday trading Monday. The stock also trades on European stock exchanges. Shares of Ford and General Motors fell 1.1% and 0.5%, respectively.
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