Stellantis to lay off thousands of Warren union workers, UAW responds
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Stellantis may be offering layoffs to nearly 2,500 union employees at its Warren plant after reporting drop in profits two weeks ago.
According to the Associated Press, Stellantis may lay off as many as 2,450 of the 3,700 workers at its Warren automobile plant.
The job cuts would be at the Stellantis Warren Truck Plant, which builds an older version of the Ram 1500 pickup called the Tradesman, sold mainly to commercial businesses. The company came out with a new version of the truck in 2018, and for the 2025 model year there's a new Tradesman.
Stellantis is shifting production of the new Tradesman to the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan. So the company will lay off one shift of workers at the Warren facility. That plant still builds the Jeep Wagoneer SUV.
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A truck displayed near an entrance to the Stellantis Warren Stamping Plant in Warren, Michigan, US, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. Roughly 1,000 members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) will vote May 6 on whether to authorize a strike at Warren Stamping Pla
FOX 2 reached out to Stellantis for comment – which confirmed layoffs were coming.
"With the introduction of the new Ram 1500, production of the Ram 1500 Classic at the Warren (Michigan) Truck Assembly Plant will come to an end later this year. As a result, Stellantis announced today that the plant will move from a two-shift to a one-shift operating pattern in General Assembly. Other operations within the plant will remain on two shifts to support Jeep Wagoneer production. "
Stellantis said roughly 2,450 could be laid off but the number "will likely be lower".
The United Auto Workers is blasting the move.
"Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is a disgrace and an embarrassment to a once-great American company. While GM and Ford report fantastic profits and increased sales, Stellantis is going backwards. Meanwhile, Tavares jacks up his own pay by 56 percent while laying off thousands of autoworkers," Union President Shawn Fain said, in part, in a fiery statement. "The American taxpayer has invested in Stellantis. Workers have invested in Stellantis. Consumers have invested in Stellantis. It’s time for Stellantis to invest in us."
Layoffs will start as early as Oct. 8.
At the end of July, Stellantis said it would be offering voluntary buyouts to workers after it reported that profits were down about 50% in the first half of the year.
"I think this is running a good business, and matching your output to the market," said Alan Amici, president of the Center for Automotive Research. "They went to a new generation truck, so you’ve got to look at the older generation to say ‘is there any demand for this? And is there a place for it?’ Apparently the answer for Stellantis is no."
Amici says the changes go along with a wide-ranging series of adjustments from the Big Three – with the automakers realizing EV sales are growing at a slower rate than expected, prompting them to introduce more hybrids to bridge the gap.
"Now for General Motors, they didn’t have any hybrids in the market, so they’re bringing hybrids in, and we should be hearing something about that fairly soon," Amici said. "Ford Motor Company had hybrids and Stellantis has hybrids in the market. So that’s another instance of a company looking at the market and seeing where the demand is and then adjusting their portfolio."
The Stellantis Warren Truck Assembly Plant on Mound Road takes up nearly 87 acres
This is the second expected layoffs from Stellantis in the Detroit area – after laying off 199 people at its Sterling Heights plant in April.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.