Stellantis sues UAW over union strike vote

Stellantis (STLA) filed a lawsuit against the United Auto Workers (UAW) union after unionized workers at the company’s parts distribution center in Los Angeles voted for the strike against the car manufacturer.

The UAW authorized a strike on Thursday if the two sides do not reach an agreement on investment commitments. It was the first such vote since local UAW affiliates began filing grievances against the company in August, the union said Friday morning.

“Stellantis made a contractual promise to invest in America, and we won’t let them back out of it,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “Our members won those investments during the Stand Up strike and we will strike again to make Stellantis keep its promise if we have to.”

The company sued the UAW and the local California chapter that voted to authorize a strike Thursday night to “prevent and/or remedy a breach of contract” from “impermissible mid-contract strikes,” according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.

Last year, thousands of unionized auto workers at the Big Three automakers—Ford (F), General Motors (GM), and Stellantis – went on strike in a series of targeted walkouts in the US. The 46-day strike ended on October 30, with workers and automakers reaching tentative agreements on contracts that were ratified weeks later.

As part of the renegotiated contracts, the UAW and Stellantis agreed on a number of planned future investments at U.S. plants to be made by the end of the new collective agreement in 2028.

The union accused Stellantis of reneging on those commitments, which totaled about $19 billion. A year into the new contract, the UAW says the company has presented investment plans that represent just 2 percent of that commitment. It also accused Stellantis of “publicly backtracking on his commitments to reopen the dormant assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois and to build the Dodge Durango in Detroit.”

“If Stellantis can give CEO Carlos Tavares a 56 percent raise and spend billions to give rich shareholders stock buybacks and dividends, then surely they have the money for productive investment in our factories,” Fain said.

Stellantis claims in its lawsuit that the planned future investments outlined in the contract are conditional, require company approval and can be changed. The suit said the UAW and Fain’s “false complaints” about the commitments did not allow for mid-contract strikes and accused the union of acting in bad faith.

If the investments aren’t made, other UAW locals could soon authorize strike votes, the union said.