UAW’s Fain says Stellantis ‘confirmed’ Durango move to Canada in August

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United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said in a Wednesday letter that Stellantis NV previously confirmed to the union its plans to move Dodge Durango production from Detroit to Canada, despite the automaker recently stating it "has confirmed no such thing."

Fain, in a letter to a Stellantis executive, said during a meeting about stamping on or around Aug. 21 that the company "confirmed to the UAW that it was intending to source the Durango to Windsor Assembly Plant." Then, at another UAW-Stellantis meeting last week, the company "refused to deny that the Durango was being moved to Windsor." Fain's letter was addressed to Tobin J. Williams, head of Stellantis human resources in North America.

The union is upset over the possibility of a Durango move because its 2023 contract with Stellantis says that the current version of the full-size SUV will be built at the Detroit Assembly Complex's Jefferson North plant through 2025, and next-generation gas and electric versions will continue to be built there by 2026. The Durango is built alongside the Jeep Grand Cherokee at the plant.

The company has said no announcements have been made about the future of the vehicle, and in a Tuesday night statement, it said that the claim that it has confirmed any plans to the union was "simply not true." A spokesperson declined Wednesday to respond publicly to Fain's letter or specific claim that the company had previously confirmed the Durango's move.

Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, said his company's projections do call for Durango production to end at Jefferson North in summer 2027. He noted the current version of the Durango is old, having come out in 2011.

When Durango production ends, Fiorani said he expects a new, smaller Dodge crossover to be built at the Windsor plant starting in the spring of 2027. It would share underpinnings with the new Dodge Charger built at the plant.

Meanwhile, Grand Cherokee and Grand Cherokee L models would continue to be built at Jefferson North and the complex's adjacent Mack plant, Fiorani projects. Those Jeep SUVs might see increased sales volume once the Durango is gone, he said, since the two models are both large SUVs that can have three rows of seating and are sold at the same dealers. And that would mean "in theory there would be relatively little lost volume" at the Detroit Assembly Complex.

Fain discussed his concerns about the vehicle's future during a Facebook Live on Tuesday night. He criticized Stellantis and CEO Carlos Tavares not only for the Durango issue, but also for the company's delays reopening the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois. The reopening commitment had been a major win for the union in last year's contract.

"It's clear this company will not stop at Belvidere," Fain said. "They will not stop at the Durango. They are determined to beat down the UAW and devastate the American working class. We will not let them."

Fain said the union is "100% within our rights" to strike over the Belvidere plant issue if necessary. He said 28 locals representing tens of thousands of UAW members had filed grievances over Belvidere. Some were far along in the grievance process, he said, and could hold strike authorization votes in the coming days, which would allow leadership to call for a strike eventually. The union has yet to schedule any of the votes, however, with a meeting involving Fain and the union's Stellantis Council scheduled for next week in Detroit to plan next steps.

An internal UAW timeline shows, under the most aggressive schedule, Stellantis locals could take strike authorization votes by Oct. 4, and could head to the picket line sometime after Oct. 18, if the situation with the company continued to escalate.

Stellantis said in a Tuesday night statement that it was not violating the commitments it made in the contract, and that Fain hasn't provided information backing up those claims.

"The commitments we made during 2023 negotiations span the life of the 4-year, 7½-month agreement, so it is not surprising that they haven't been fully realized in the first year," said the Stellantis statement sent by spokesperson Jodi Tinson.

The company added that Fain "continues to willfully damage the reputation of the company with his public attacks which is helpful to no one including his members," and that such issues should be addressed in face-to-face dialogue.

In his Wednesday letter to the company, Fain said he does want to have meetings with the company to discuss the recent disagreements, but has struggled to schedule one, offering several potential dates. He also took issue with the idea that his recent comments harmed the automaker and his members, stating it was the company that has been harming itself lately by "slashing costs" and "prioritizing short-term gain" over the long-term health of the company.

"Stellantis is currently being sued by shareholders and suppliers, is being publicly criticized by your own National Dealers Council, top executives and management are fleeing the Company, and you are now facing the very real possibility of a national grievance strike from our union because of your failure to live up to your contractual commitments," the Fain letter said.

"Under CEO Carlos Tavares, Stellantis is quickly turning into a global case study in corporate mismanagement," he added. "Our great union and the 45,000 Stellantis employees we represent are trying desperately to save Stellantis from itself. We sincerely hope you will join us in that effort."

lramseth@detroitnews.com

@lramseth

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