UAW Intensifies Fight for U.S. Investments at Stellantis as Company Spends Another $1.1 Billion on Stock Buybacks
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — UAW members at Stellantis’ Denver Parts Distribution Center (PDC) have voted by 97% to authorize the International UAW to call a strike if the union cannot reach a settlement with Stellantis over the company’s violations of the current contract.
UAW locals across the country have charged Stellantis with violating product and investment commitments in the contract. As the grievances proceed, more UAW locals at Stellantis could be holding strike authorization votes soon.
The members of Denver-area UAW Local 186 are the second local of Stellantis workers to approve a strike authorization vote. The members of UAW Local 230 at Stellantis’ Los Angeles PDC were the first, passing their strike authorization vote on Thursday, Oct. 3.
In the UAW’s 2023 contract, the union won $19 billion in investment commitments, securing a future for tens-of-thousands of good union jobs in the United States. The UAW also made history by winning the right to strike if the company fails to fulfill those commitments. A year into the collective bargaining agreement, the company has put forward investment plans equal to only about 2% of the $19 billion in commitments and is now publicly backtracking on its commitments to reopen the idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and to build the Dodge Durango in Detroit.
Instead of fulfilling its investment commitments, Stellantis has poured $1.1 billion into stock buybacks in just the last nine weeks. The company committed to spend $3.3 billion on stock buybacks in 2024.
Stellantis has launched an aggressive PR campaign peddling misinformation about the company’s attempts to evade its U.S. investment commitments. Stellantis is also mounting a desperate effort to intervene in the union’s constitutional strike authorization process. Last week, the company made robocalls to tens of thousands of UAW members across the country telling them to vote no on strike authorization. Last week’s overwhelming yes votes at both the Los Angeles and Denver parts center shows members are ready to fight and that Stellantis’ campaign is backfiring. The company has additionally filed frivolous suits in federal court to try and stop UAW members from utilizing their contractual right to strike over the company’s broken promises.
For more information on the fight to make Stellantis Keep The Promise, visit UAW.org/KeepThePromise.
