UAW: Belvidere plant ‘centerpiece’ of talks as strike looms

United Auto Workers Local 1268 President Matt Frantzen says he is confident Shawn Fain and UAW will not accept a new contract that doesn’t provide a future for the Belvidere Assembly Plant.

The union’s labor agreements with the “Big Three” Detroit automakers including Stellantis are set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, raising the specter of a strike.

The UAW is continuing to negotiate for a new contract that won’t forget the Belvidere plant, said Frantzen, who was elected president of the local union representing the Belvidere plant and suppliers in May.

“One of the pushes I had when I ran for this position was to make sure they didn’t forget about us,” Frantzen said. “I reach out to Detroit all the time and get the members to reach out to them to let them know we have a perfectly good workforce down here, one that never has to be talked to about production levels, attendance levels or quality.”

A spokeswoman for Stellantis declined to comment on the potential future of the Belvidere Assembly Plant or on continuing negotiations.

‘Justice for Belvidere’

UAW officials say they are seeking “justice for Belvidere” and have “made Belvidere a centerpiece of its proposals to stop plant closures.” Those measures include seeking the right to strike over shutdowns and a “Working Family Protection Program” that would “keep product in the plants and workers on the job.”

Belvidere was idled and its workforce laid off or transferred even as Stellantis made $14.7 billion in North American profits last year, according to information from the UAW. Ford, General Motors and Stellantis made $250 billion in North American profits from 2013 to 2022. And in the the first six months of 2023, the UAW says the auto makers raked in $21 billion in total profits.

Although some UAW demands like 40 hours of pay for a 32-hour workweek or a 46% pay raise have earned him “side eye” while out and about in the community, Frantzen said he supports the sometimes brazen approach Fain has adopted in negotiations with the Detroit automakers as a breath of fresh air.

“I think it’s all part of the negotiation process,” Frantzen said. “You swing for the fences and see where you

end up. Now is the time. People are fed up. It’s time the blue collar comes up.”

Vehicles over batteries

Even as the clock continues to tick toward the end of the contract, Frantzen said there is still hope an agreement can be reached that avoids a strike.

And that hope, Frantzen said, includes hope for the Belvidere facility, which first opened in 1965 and for decades was a regional economic engine.

Roughly 1,200 production employees remain tied to the Belvidere Assembly Plant and can return to work there if a new vehicle is assigned for production.

But if Stellantis transforms the facility into a battery production facility, the operation may not require that many workers, Frantzen said.

“If they were only to produce batteries, that doesn’t bring everybody back,” Frantzen said. “That’s definitely a possibility, but I don’t think it’s something our international staff is going to support. Yes, it’s jobs, but they are looking for vehicles.”

Jeff Kolkey can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.