Automotive

UAW authorizes strike action at Stellantis' Warren Stamping Plant

Written by Laura Miller

May 7, 2024

United Auto Workers (UAW) members at Stellantis’ Warren Stamping Plant in Michigan have voted to authorize a strike at the factory.

On Monday, May 6, more than 1,000 members of UAW Local 869 held a strike authorization vote. The members voted in favor of strike authorization, giving the union the legal right to walk off the job should the automaker continue to ignore the union’s health and safety concerns.

Workers’ concerns include problems with ventilation fans, ergo matting, and PPE, as well as flooding, lighting, and flooring issues, oil leaks, unkept restrooms, and overall sanitation, according to the union.

“Not only do we want these health and safety grievances resolved, we want our members to leave the same way they came. We want members to understand they’re not just a number or just a body on the line. They will come to work and feel like they have some ownership in that building,” UAW Local 869 President Romaine McKinney III said in a statement.

Stellantis said it “remains committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment for all employees and resolving this matter without a work stoppage.”

“While the members of UAW Local 869 from Stellantis’ Warren (Michigan) Stamping Plant have voted to authorize a strike, discussions between the company and UAW are ongoing, and employees are still at work,” a Stellantis spokesperson told SMU in an email.

Strike action at the facility could have a domino effect, as it is a supplier for more than half a dozen Stellantis plants in North America. The union said production of the Dodge Ram, Jeep Wrangler, and Jeep Wagoneer are at greatest risk.

Now that the strike is authorized, it’s up to the union “leadership to determine if and when it may commence,” a UAW spokesperson told SMU in an email.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.

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