Stellantis should deliver on investment commitments, White House says
1:48 pm Wednesday, October 16th, 2024
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Chrysler-parent Stellantis should made good on its commitments made to the United Auto Workers union in 2023 to communities affected by plant closures in the United States, the White House said Wednesday.
The deal reached between the UAW and Stellantis “included a commitment to reopen and expand production in communities that were devastated by previous plant closures,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. “What we want to see is Stellantis certainly deliver on those commitments to the UAW and to the communities.”
Stellantis agreed in 2023 within the UAW contract to invest $1.5 billion to reopen its shuttered Belvidere, Illinois, assembly plant and build new mid-size trucks by 2027 as part of $19 billion in overall investment plans. Stellantis acknowledged in August delaying some investments because of economic conditions but said it “firmly stands by its commitment.”
President Joe Biden traveled to Illinois in November 2023 to tout the agreement.
Stellantis did not immediately comment.
Stellantis in recent weeks has filed numerous lawsuits against the UAW and local units, saying the union has violated its contract by threatening to strike over the company’s delays in planned investments.
Separately, Jean-Pierre did not respond directly to a question about a report that Stellantis plans to move some Ram pickup production to Mexico. Stellantis is currently making other variants of the Ram pickup trucks in Mexico.
The UAW said last year that Stellantis was threatening move production of the Ram 1500 pickup truck from the Detroit area to Mexico.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Gabriella Borter and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chris Reese and Nick Zieminski)
