Stellantis announces 570 new temporary layoffs amid UAW strike
FOX 2 (WJBK) - Stellantis announced the temporary layoff of hundreds more workers on Monday.
The layoffs include 520 at the Trenton Engine Complex and in Indiana where 50 were laid off from the Kokomo Casting plant. The last day worked at both plants was Oct. 6. Stellantis said the moves were due to storage constraints.
"As a consequence of the UAW strike action at the Toledo Assembly Complex (TAC), Stellantis has a total of 640 represented employees on temporary layoff," Stellantis said in a release. "Stellantis continues to closely monitor the impact of the UAW strike action on our manufacturing operation."
An economic assessment of the strike against Detroit automakers, now in its third week with tens of thousands of employees off the line, finds the labor dispute has cost the industry $5.5 billion.
Meanwhile, Stellantis workers outside the Mopar World Headquarters in Center Line say they are holding firm, even amid a change in the elements.
"Oh, the mood is great. I mean the people ain’t giving up," said Troy Rollins, Mopar team leader. "We're going to have to fight through the weather and all the other issues that can happen out here."
GM is also putting 200 more workers on layoff, blaming their move on a strike that’s now entering Week 4 and costing more than $5.5 billion according to the Anderson Economic Group, making this protest the most expensive of any auto strike since 2000.
"That’s how strikes go sometimes. Like I say we got - we patronize these restaurants and these companies nearby. They are feeling the effects of it," Rollins said.
"This is still relatively minor compared to what the cost would have been had the strike been a full throttle strike across an entire company, or certainly across all three companies," said WSU Professor Merick Masters.
Masters is a professor of business at Wayne State. He says the UAW had made progress with all three Detroit automakers, but not nearly enough to get tentative agreements in place this week…meaning that $5.5 billion in losses will only increase.
"The job losses and job effects in terms of the number of strikers and layoffs has been relatively modest, given the limited nature of the strike," he said. "However that could ramp up very quickly depending upon what happens this week."
"You know they got white-collar workers that they try to haul in to try to do our parts in here," Rollins said. "You’ll see the bus and it normally only has like three or four people on it."
4,000 more UAW members on strike after rejecting contract with Mack Trucks
They join tens of thousands of other striking workers that are picketing the Detroit 3 automakers over a failure to secure a contract.