Stellantis Warren Truck worker: “If we don’t fight now, they are going to take our jobs”

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The World Socialist Web Site recently held a conversation with a veteran worker from the Stellantis Warren Truck plant in suburban Detroit. On October 8, the company plans to lay off more than 2,500 workers at the factory, as part of its worldwide job cutting campaign. In Italy, Stellantis workers are set to strike on October 18 to oppose plans by the global automaker to cut as many as 12,000 jobs in the country. 

The labor agreement signed by the United Auto Workers bureaucracy in late 2023 provided Stellantis, General Motors and Ford with a green light to slash thousands of jobs and force workers to pay the costs of the riskier than expected transition to electric vehicles.  

On Tuesday, UAW Local 1700 sent out a notice to members at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant informing them that 177 supplemental or part-time workers were being terminated by September 28. In addition, 14 full-time workers will be laid off indefinitely at the plant, which is located a few miles from Warren Truck.

GM also announced plans to lay off 250 temporary workers at its Fort Wayne, Indiana plant and to terminate 250 temps at its Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas.

At Fairfax, GM is planning to temporarily lay off roughly 1,450 full-time workers between November and January as the company retools the plant for production of the Chevy Bolt EV and Cadillac XT4 on one assembly line. The company has stated it does not plan to recall workers from the “temporary” layoffs for one year, with production resuming between late 2025 and early 2026.

This reporter held the following discussion with the Warren Truck worker who is using the pseudonym John to protect him from possible retaliation by the company and the UAW bureaucracy. 

WSWS: What is the present situation at the Warren Truck plant? 

John: We are coming to work in the morning, until October 8. But we don’t know exactly what is going to happen. Nobody knows. Every week they add more names to the list of people being laid off.

Only one shift is working now, there’s no second shift. Last week, it was day shift working in the morning and second shift was laid off. They go weekly. The next week the second shift works but they start in the morning too. The only ones working afternoons are shipping and repair. 

WSWS: Does anybody know how many workers are transferring, and who is keeping their jobs?

John: No. In the beginning they said everyone hired after June 24, 2018, would be laid off. This week they put out a new seniority list and more people are going to be out. The people, the union says, have the opportunity to go to SHAP [Sterling Heights Assembly Plant] or the Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio. But nothing is sure. Toledo is working on and off too. Nobody knows. 

At Warren Truck, you hear there is no future for this Wagoneer model. It’s an expensive car. With the economy as it is, nobody is going to buy a car for $80,000 and up. How long Warren Truck will stay open, nobody knows. 

In the union contract, they promised job security and said they were going to reopen the Belvidere plant. Now, nobody is saying anything. Everything is coming to a head next month. 

WSWS: Nobody believes Shawn Fain when he talks about writing grievances, calling a strike and all the rest?

John: No. Nobody trusts the union. Even the local. Before the layoff announcements, we had a steward who worked in chassis and told the people the truth about what was coming. They had a meeting and Local 140 President Eric Graham yelled at the steward, “Why did you tell the people that?” He shouted at him for telling the members about the job cuts that were coming. Even the local works against workers. 

Last week, at 1:00 p.m. management came around and told the workers they had to work nine hours. There was a big fight between the workers and management. The supervisors threatened the workers: “If you walk off the line at 2:30 you’re fired.” We’re supposed to be informed at least by lunchtime if they want us to stay an extra hour. They came at the last minute and people rejected that. Management threatened to fire us and the union did nothing.

They write up and suspend people for small things. Fifteen people just got written up in shipping. They trick the workers. A supervisor looks at a car and says it’s okay to ship. When the audit comes back and they find a defect, they blame it on the workers. But we don’t have the gauges and measurements management has.

WSWS: Boeing workers on the picket lines told us they warned management about unsafe procedures, but they were ignored because all the company wanted was to get airplanes out the door. That’s how the door plug on the Boeing jet blew out. Management is under enormous pressure from the top shareholders to cut corners, and that led to hundreds dying.