UAW says Dodge Durango production could leave U.S.

The UAW said Stellantis is trying to move production of the Dodge Durango outside the U.S., one of several recent actions by the automaker that the union argues violate the labor contract they signed last fall.

The union said it has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board "for Stellantis' illegal refusal to provide information about the company's plans regarding product commitments it made in the UAW's 2023 collective bargaining agreement."

The UAW said several locals representing thousands of workers have filed grievances with Stellantis over plans to offshore Durango production. The Dodge SUV is built at the company's Detroit Assembly Complex alongside the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

"In our 2023 contract, we won major gains, including a commitment to reopen an idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill., and to build the Dodge Durango in Detroit. We also won the right to strike over those commitments, if we have to," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a Sept. 16 statement. "Now, Stellantis wants to go back on the deal. As a united UAW, we intend to enforce our contract, and to make Stellantis keep the promise."

The UAW's summary of its contract with Stellantis said the automaker had agreed to invest $1.5 billion at the Detroit Assembly Complex. The document, published in November 2023, said production of the current Durango would continue through 2025 and that workers there would then build gasoline-powered and electric versions of the the next-generation Durango starting in 2026.

The union also has accused Stellantis of breaking the contract by delaying plans to reopen its idled assembly plant in Illinois. More than a dozen UAW locals recently filed grievances over the company's "attempt to back out of their commitment to reopen Belvidere Assembly and other violations of the product and investment commitments secured in the UAW's strike last year," the union said. UAW leaders criticized Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares at a rally outside a suburban Detroit assembly plant in August.

Stellantis has said it's pushing back the timing of its plan to build a midsize pickup in Belvidere starting in 2027 but that it would uphold its commitment to reopening the plant.

"Stellantis has not received the filing, and therefore has not had an opportunity to review the charge," the company said in a statement "The company has not violated the commitments made in the Investment Letter included in the 2023 UAW Collective Bargaining Agreement. Like all of our competitors, Stellantis is attempting to carefully manage how and when we bring new vehicles to market with a focus on enhancing our competitiveness and ensuring our future sustainability and growth. We will communicate our plans to the UAW at the appropriate time." 

The UAW filed similar unfair labor practice charges against Stellantis and General Motors in August 2023, saying the two automakers were not negotiating in good faith ahead of their previous contract expiration, but later dropped the complaints.

On Sept. 11, Stellantis announced plans to spend $406 million upgrading three Michigan plants to build electrified Ram pickups and Jeep Wagoneer SUVs. The investments are a small piece of the $18.9 billion in commitments through April 2028 that Stellantis made in the 2023 labor agreement, and Fain criticized the company for not moving forward on more of those projects yet. 

"Across the company, a year into this agreement, the company has announced just 2 percent of the total investment commitment they made," Fain said in a Sept. 12 speech at UAW Local 140, which represents the Warren Truck plant in Michigan. "Two percent, which means 98 percent of the product investment that they made in bargaining a year ago is yet to be fulfilled. So while they're not yet in violation of the agreement at Warren Truck, they are in violation at plants across this nation, and we intend to fully enforce our contract from the grievance procedure to the right to strike."

Up to 2,450 workers at Warren Truck could be laid off next month as a result of Stellantis discontinuing the Ram 1500 Classic, although the company says it expects the actual number of cuts to be much lower.

Stellantis said the electric-vehicle market is "still at an early highly volatile stage," and that it's trying to "carefully manage how and when we bring new vehicles to market with a focus on enhancing our competitiveness and ensuring our future sustainability and growth."

The automaker said its investment commitments will span the life of the 2023 agreement, so it's not a surprise they haven't been fully realized in the first year.

"The investments we announced [Sept. 11] will help ensure Sterling Heights Assembly, Warren Truck and Dundee Engine’s positions in our electrified future," the company said in a statement. "That is a good thing, and we reject any effort to minimize it."