Employees return to Stellantis
UAW strike had included workers in Mansfield
Unionized workers at the Stellantis auto parts distribution facility in Mansfield have returned to work following an agreement this week to end the six-week United Auto Workers strike.
The strike had included about 50 workers at the plant run by Stellantis, which owns brands including Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler. Brandon Mancilla, director of UAW Region 9A, said 46 of those workers returned starting Sunday night.
The Mansfield workers are joining 146,000 union members across the country who put their picket signs down following the tentative deals with the Big Three automakers.
Ford struck a deal with the autoworkers late last week, followed by Stellantis on Saturday and General Motors on Monday. The agreements are scheduled for ratification votes within the next two weeks, and in the meantime, workers will be back on the job.
All three of the deals include raises that could total more than 30 percent over the life of contracts, which would run through April 2028.
“For months we’ve said that record profits mean record contracts.” UAW president Shawn Fain said in a statement. “This agreement sets us on a new path to make things right at Ford, at the Big Three, and across the auto industry. Together, we are turning the tide for the working class in this country.”
Fain began talking with the Big Three last summer, originally asking for a 40 percent raise and 40 hours of pay for a 32-hour work week. But the companies balked, arguing that such a move would increase vehicle prices.
The agreement with Stellantis will raise the top wage by more than 33 percent, and the starting wage by 67 percent, both including cost-of-living-adjustment. Compensation will increase by more than 165 percent for temporary workers, who are the lowest-paid at Stellantis.
Jodi Tinson, a Stellantis spokesperson, said in a statement that the deal will help the company adapt to the increasing electrification of the automotive industry.
“Together with the UAW, we have established a framework that will allow the Company to be competitive during this historic transformation and bring our workforce along on this journey,” Tinson said.