Stellantis UAW workers in Indiana go on strike at the company’s plant

Stellantis’ workers who are members of the United Auto Workers labor union group went on strike last weekend. The workers are employees of the automaker in its Indiana plant in the United States.

According to Detroit Free Press, the union members said they staged the strike due to safety and health issues. They claimed that Stellantis refused to replace or repair the air conditioning and heating systems at the facility.

The facility sits on a 35-acre land in the said state’s City of Kokomo. The plant makes auto parts for the company’s vehicle brands including Jeep, RAM, Dodge, and Chrysler. To be more specific, the parts being made here are for the vehicles’ power trains.

Stellantis stated that production in the affected plant was not on schedule last weekend and it hopes to get back on the negotiating table with the striking UAE Local 1166 as soon as possible. It was noted that if the strike would go on for a long time, this would create a big problem for the vehicle assembly lines across North America.

The Kokomo Casting plant is the largest die-cast facility in the world as per Stellantis. It mostly makes aluminum parts for vehicle components such as engine blocks and transmissions.

In any case, the UAW union workers said that they were told by Stellantis that it has no funds to meet the membership's basic needs, but they think the company is “making record profits and investing billions in a new battery plant across the street."

“Stellantis claims it has no money to meet the basic needs of UAW Local 1166 members while, at the same time, it is making record profits and investing billions in a new battery plant across the street,” Cindy Estrada, the UAW vice president and director of Stellantis department, said.

In response to the safety and health complaints by the labor union, Stellantis reiterated it is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment for all of its workers. The automaker went on to say that it has been negotiating with the UAW for days and believed it was able to address their concerns through their new offers, thus the management was disappointed with the strike.

“Stellantis reaffirms its commitment to providing a safe and healthy work environment for all employees,” Kokomo Tribune quoted the automaker as saying in a statement. “After bargaining in good faith for two days and presenting an offer we believed addressed the union’s concerns, we are disappointed by the UAW’s decision to walk out. We will look to get back to the table as soon as possible to resume negotiations to reach an agreement on a local contract.”