UAW President Sean Fain chairs the 2023 Special Election Collective Bargaining Convention in Detroit, Michigan, United States, March 27, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
DETROIT – Shawn Fain of the United Auto Workers union Stellantis Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares, in a video statement Friday afternoon, accused the company of unfairly pricing consumers and not adhering to parts of the union’s labor agreement with the company.
The comments are the latest in an ongoing back-and-forth between the CEO and union leaders following contentious collective bargaining negotiations last year between the UAW and Detroit automakers, including Stellantis.
“Something is rotten at Stellantis,” Fain said at the beginning of a 2-minute, 30-second video posted on Friday. “Sales are falling, profits are declining and CEO pay is skyrocketing. The problem isn’t the market for GM or Ford. Auto sales are growing, but the problem isn’t the auto workers. The problem is this guy, Carlos Tavares.”
Spokespeople for the union and the automaker did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the allegations or the video.
The criticisms over job cuts and Tavares’ pay are not new, but Fain’s comments on Friday took it a step further, accusing Tavares of jacking up prices from consumers for profits. He also specifically cited Stellantis’ halting plans to reopen an assembly plant in Illinois, alleging that the company is not fulfilling its part of the labor contract.
“Indeed, Stellantis has been selling less for years, but making more profits. What does that say? They’ve been jacking up prices. And now they’ve overdone it and are hurting their own sales,” Fain said. “Indeed, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is backtracking on commitments the company made in the last contract, including putting the brakes on the reopening of the Belvedere plant.”
Tavares has recently criticized UAW-Stellantis workers, pointing to quality problems at a truck plant in metro Detroit that makes the Ram 1500 pickup truck. The company has also announced thousands of job cuts at its U.S. plants amid falling sales and product changes.
“The direct execution rate of some of our plans, including SHAP in Sterling Heights, is not good,” Tavares told reporters about the ongoing issues with the company on July 25. “This is an issue that we need to resolve with our plant management team and our employees.”
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares spoke to media following an investor briefing at the company’s North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan on June 13, 2024.
Michael Weiland / CNBC
Tavares has been working to cut costs at the automaker since it was formed in January 2021 through a merger between Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group, as part of his “Dare Forward 2030” plan to increase profits and double sales to 300 billion euros ($325 billion) by 2030.
Cost-cutting measures include restructuring the company’s supply chain and operations, as well as reducing workforces of both full-time and hourly employees.
Stellantis is reducing its workforce by 15.5%, or about 47,500 jobs, from December 2019 through the end of 2023, including a 14.5% reduction in North America, according to public filings. That doesn’t include further cuts and furloughs planned for this year.
Executives have previously described the cuts to CNBC as draconian and excessive, and Mr. Tavares last month rejected the idea that the company’s cost-cutting efforts had caused its current problems.
