UAW STATEMENT ON STELLANTIS REPORTING RECORD PROFITS FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2023

This morning, Stellantis reported record profits for the first half of 2023, posting $12.1 billion (10.9 billion euros) in net profit. That’s a 37 percent increase over last year.

Only 33 percent of Stellantis’ global workforce is in North America, yet workers here made the bulk of the automaker’s operating income: 57 percent of the automaker’s $15.7 billion (14.1 billion euros) in operating income was made in North America.

The 150,000 UAW members at Stellantis, Ford and General Motors began negotiations for a new contract with the three automakers this month. Altogether, the Big Three companies made a quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits over the last decade. The automakers’ current contract with the UAW expires on Sept. 14.

UAW President Shawn Fain made the following statement today:

“There are healthy profits and then there are obscene profits. These record profits are obscene, and they come off the backs of underpaid workers and broken communities. Our workers got raises of just 6 percent over the last four years even as CEO Tavares saw his compensation soar 72 percent. As Stellantis made its megaprofits, it kept our assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois sitting idle. Workers who’ve given their lives to the company have no idea what the future holds.

“Stellantis said today that they’re pouring a staggering $1.7 billion (1.5 billion euros) into a stock buyback scheme that artificially inflates the value of shares, further enriching company executives and the top 1%. That is $1.7 billion being robbed from the workers who made those profits possible and the latest in a long line of examples of how corporate greed is plundering our communities. It’s time for Stellantis to pony up and make things right for working families.”

UAW Vice President Rich Boyer, director of the union’s Stellantis department, issued the following statement:

“Stellantis counted its huge profit in euros, but it’s our workers in North America who made most of that money. Our workers are the profit engine for the company, but we’ve been getting the shaft for years. Even when plants like Belvidere make high-quality product and solid profits, Stellantis executives shut them down. These numbers show there’s no excuse for that kind of cruelty anymore. Our workers are fired up and we’re going to win what we and our communities deserve.”