Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, has filed a federal lawsuit against the United Auto Workers (UAW), accusing the union of violating its contract by threatening to strike over delayed investment plans.
The automaker, which filed its complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Oct. 3, seeks a ruling that UAW Local 230’s decision to hold a strike authorization vote breaches the terms of the collective bargaining agreement reached last year.
On the same day, UAW Local 230 in Los Angeles voted overwhelmingly to request a strike authorization if an agreement can’t be reached.
The automaker’s complaint centers on Letter 311 of their 2023 bargaining agreement, which outlines Stellantis’s $19 billion in planned investments in U.S. facilities, including the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois.
Stellantis argues that these investments were never unconditional, asserting they were always subject to approval by the company’s product allocation committee and “contingent upon plant performance, changes in market conditions, and consumer demand continuing to generate sustainable and profitable volumes.”
The complaint alleges that the UAW has ignored these conditions, engaging in a sustained, multi-month campaign to pressure Stellantis into making investments irrespective of the agreed-upon contingencies. The company alleges that UAW President Shawn Fain and the union filed “sham grievances” and misrepresented the terms of the agreement to justify the strike threats.
“Defendants’ sham grievances do not authorize Defendants to engage in mid-contract strikes, and Defendants have acted in bad faith and thus violated the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing incorporated into the [collective bargaining agreement],” the complaint reads.
The lawsuit directly challenges Fain, accusing him of misleading union members by falsely claiming that Stellantis’s planned investments were “promises” or “commitments,” despite the contract’s explicit conditional language.
“Fain baselessly alleged Stellantis engaged in ’serious violations’ of the [agreement] and recommended to the UAW membership that they authorize a strike,” the automaker’s attorneys allege in the complaint, which asks the court to award Stellantis any monetary damages that result from the strike.
In response, Fain has dismissed the company’s legal threats as “desperate actions” and that the union’s lawyers have “complete confidence in our right to strike.”
In a letter to union members on Oct. 4, Fain accused Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares of trying to gut the company’s U.S. operations to cut costs, claiming that “the only sham is Stellantis’s promises.”
“We will not sit back and watch this company violate our agreement and threaten our jobs, our plants, and our communities,” Fain wrote, while vowing to protect American jobs.
“We are united and we are defiant,” he added.
The dispute stems from Stellantis’s decision to delay several planned investments, including a $1.5 billion project to retool its Belvidere plant to produce mid-size trucks by 2027. The company has cited economic reasons for the delays, claiming the investments are contingent on evolving market conditions.
In August, the automaker acknowledged that it was delaying some investments and said it “firmly stands by its commitment” to carry out the investments at some point.
Reuters contributed to this report.
