UAW VP Says Stellantis Has Threaten To Move Ram 1500 Production To Mexico

Negotiations between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Stellantis have turned increasingly contentious. Over the weekend, UAW Vice President Rich Boyer, who is leading the union’s negotiations with Stellantis, revealed that the automaker had raised the prospect of moving the current Ram 1500 (DT) production from Metro Detroit to Mexico. Boyer stated that Stellantis’ proposal included producing the new all-electric Ram 1500 REV pickup truck at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP), which currently manufactures a majority of the Ram 1500 light-duty pickups. This potential move has sparked concerns from both local and federal officials, given the Ram 1500’s status … (read full article...)

 

[Mike201]

I am sure this threatened move is due to contract negotiations. If the Union makes threats, the company makes threats. As a long time union guy, and union officer for over 25 years, I am not in full support of the UAW. Their members have been treated pretty well over the years. Hate to say, with all this new technology and assembly equipment in these state of the art factories, these employees are NOT working under the same conditions their former counterparts worked under back in the day. They need to really take a look at everything and think really hard what is really at stake.

 

[AlexB]

@redriderbob
What's the capacity of Saltillo?

I believe it has a lot more than it has now. But keep in mind it currently runs Ram 1500 Classic models. It could discontinue those trucks to make room. However, SHAP is already running 2025 pre-production ICE models down the line. From what I was told originally, the SHAP will not get the BEV and XR models. Instead, Warren would get them after they phase out the Ram 1500 Classic there, as they will share the IRS of the Wagoneer. I believe this was just a scare tactic by Stellantis.

 

[cgseller]

I'm been lead to believe if you say anything with enough confidence and enough times, many people will believe it to be true. Sadly, that is all you need.

 

[redriderbob]

I am sure this threatened move is due to contract negotiations. If the Union makes threats, the company makes threats. As a long time union guy, and union officer for over 25 years, I am not in full support of the UAW. Their members have been treated pretty well over the years. Hate to say, with all this new technology and assembly equipment in these state of the art factories, these employees are NOT working under the same conditions their former counterparts worked under back in the day. They need to really take a look at everything and think really hard what is really at stake.

I agree with you. However, I do agree with "some" of the things the UAW wants. The tier wage system Stellantis is using is a joke. The biggest problem at the plants is absenteeism and getting people to man their stations. It hurts when the last idiots who ran the UAW didn't care about the employees rather than stuffing their own pockets and the wages to start out at the plant are low compared to most jobs today. Its hard to get people in the plants at $15/hr when McDonalds is hiring at $16/hr across the street. As for the rest of the stuff like a four day work week, thats fine, but a lot of the plants run odd shift schedules to give workers a four day week already. Another issue I have is the fact that Stellantis, Ford, and GM have idled plants. Living in Michigan, I see one (the Ford Romeo plant) almost everyday. COVID taught these automakers that they can make more money by building less cars. With the prices hikes on these vehicles, companies like Stellantis are already looking at running more variants of vehicles using the same architectures, down the same line. My worry is the UAW hasn't thought this all the way through and its going to cripple Michigan's economy if everyone goes on strike, because it affects even the suppliers and the people servicing them.

 

[MoparRay]

The UAW needs to put pressure on the White House to reduce inflation and energy costs. Have a starting wage of $20.00 an hour and yearly cost of living wage. Need to eliminate pension plan for 401Ks.

 

[AlexB]

The UAW needs to put pressure on the White House to reduce inflation and energy costs. Have a starting wage of $20.00 an hour and yearly cost of living wage. Need to eliminate pension plan for 401Ks.

Post-Bankruptcy workforce gets 401K with match, not pensions.
But the problem is Shawn Fain wants to back to Pensions.
The 44Th U.S. President used the Bankruptcy to get rid Cost Of Living, Stellantis wants to keep that gone.