Stellantis has notified thousands of workers in the US states of Ohio and Michigan of possible layoffs, attributing the move in part to California rules that limit where vehicles can be sold.
The European automaker on Thursday notified 2,455 workers in Detroit and 1,225 in Ohio of potential job losses under the federal warning law, which requires early notification of large layoffs.
The company expects the actual number of layoffs to be “much lower” than the Detroit number and “slightly lower” than the Ohio number, said Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson.
“Due to the complexity of our bargaining agreement related to the placement of affected workers, warning notices have been issued to more employees than will ultimately be affected out of an abundance of caution to notify workers even if not legally required,” Tinson told AFP. . An email message.
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The notice comes in the Midwestern states just weeks after workers at Stellantis and fellow Detroit giants General Motors and Ford approved sweeping new wage increases following a roughly six-week strike organized by the United Auto Workers union.
The job cuts affect Stellantis’ Mack assembly plant in Detroit, where the Grand Cherokee and the Grand Cherokee 4xe hybrid are assembled. and the Toledo assembly plants, where the Jeep Wrangler and the Jeep 4xe hybrid are assembled.
The moves at the plants are to “manage sales of the vehicles they produce to comply with California emissions regulations measured on a state-by-state basis,” a Stellantis statement said.
On Wednesday, Stellandis filed a formal challenge with the California Office of Administrative Law regarding the state airline’s policies that he claims unfairly disadvantage the European company.
Stellantis currently only ships hybrid versions of its vehicles to dealer lots in California and 13 other states that follow mandates set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
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That means that at times, Stellantis sold only combustion engine vehicles in California in response to customer orders, Stellantis attorneys said in the Dec. 6 letter to the board.
Instead, the company has at times limited hybrid models to customer orders, meaning “dealers could not place certain vehicles on their lots for customers to view and test drive,” Stelantis said in the letter.
In July 2019, California announced a deal with four Stellantis competitors — Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW — in response to then-President Donald Trump’s effort to freeze emissions rules.
CARB’s “continued debarment” of Stellantis subjects the company to a “double standard,” which also threatens “the livelihoods of our 56,000 U.S. employees,” the company said.
Source: AFP