Stellantis lays off hundreds of temporary workers

(FOX 2) - Amy WIlmoth worked with Stellantis nine months and was on the verge of becoming a full-time employee. Then she received life-altering news last week.

She had been laid off from her job at the Warren truck plant. Wilmoth is one of hundreds of temporary employees to lose their job at Stellantis - despite her recently receiving paperwork to become full-time. 

She said she feels betrayed - by the automaker as well as the union that represents her.

"It makes me angry. I feel hurt. I feel devastated. The company sent out a letter stating that certain supplementals would be terminated due to poor performance and attendance issues," Wilmoth said. "I personally have a perfect track record with the company."

The news came in a phone call from the company, which informed her she was no longer needed at her job.

"I feel like my whole world was ripped from underneath me all at once. I was not expecting to get that kind of news," she said Monday.

Stellantis told FOX 2 in a statement it had laid off 539 temporary workers nationwide as part of a regular analysis of staffing levels. Wilmoth was one of those workers.

The statement included "This action will help improve the efficiency, productivity, and market competitiveness of our facilities as we implement our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan."

Part of Wilmoth's feelings of betrayal are also directed at the UAW, the organization she picketed alongside during the union's strike against the Big 3 automakers.

When she sought out answers from her Local 140 Union about why she was being let go, she wasn't given an answer she liked. 

"I asked him specific questions about our 401Ks and any benefits that we paid into while being with the company. ‘What do we do now? Where do we go from here?’ He told me he didn’t have the answers to that, but he advised we protest this, that we bring this to the news," she said.

In a brief phone call Local 140 Vice President Randall Pearson, he said the union had done everything it could and that Stellantis was "heartless" for the decision.

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In a statement from UAW President Shawn Fain, it read "Stellantis can afford to do the right thing here and provide a pathway to full-time good auto jobs but is again choosing to line executive and shareholder pockets. These workers have generated Stellantis' record profits, and there is absolutely no need to lay off a single one of them."

Wilmoth didn't want to hear it.

"They stated that this contract was an historic win for the automotive industry, and that this was going to be something good for the working class. But in reality, it was an historical win for them. It did not benefit us at all," she said.