Shawn Fain emphasizes he was elected on a reform platform and has pledged to do away with what he describes as “company unionism.”
The new president of the UAW says that, between threatening job security with plant closings and subverting existing labor contracts with joint ventures, Detroit’s automakers lack respect for their workers and their contributions to the companies’ success.
“If Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares thinks he can fly over here to threaten our members about product and absenteeism, that is a problem,” Shawn Fain says during a videoconference with Detroit’s Automotive Press Assn. in which he cites issues that will influence the union’s upcoming contract negotiations with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.
Tavares, according to social media posts by local UAW officers, lectured leaders of Local 140 at an assembly plant in Warren, MI, about absenteeism among workers. Jeep and Ram products built at that and other Detroit-area plants account for a major portion of Stellantis’ profits.
Local union officials blame the absenteeism on chronic understaffing and employees’ inability to get time off for family emergencies.
The UAW expects Stellantis to reverse its decision to close the Belvidere, IL, assembly plant where the Jeep Cherokee was built until earlier this year, Fain says, calling the shutdown a clear violation of the current labor contract.
Stellantis officials had no comment on Fain’s statements.
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