WARREN, Ohio — One year after the United Auto Workers and Stellantis struck a historic deal after a six-week strike against the “big three” automakers, the automaker has not made good on a vow not to open a facility in Illinois, according to the UAW.
That is only half of it. Company executives now say they are cutting a production shift here at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant, a move that will cost a substantial number of jobs.
The charming Trumbull County city, located along a curve of the Mahoning River just 15 miles outside of Youngstown, Ohio, is part of the storied Mahoning Valley that was once dotted with manufacturing plants and steel mills for generations.
Last Wednesday, Stellantis executives said they would spend $400 million to upgrade three factories in Michigan and nearly $100 million into its Warren Truck Assembly plant here, with a focus on the building of battery-operated vehicles, a car the general public has not warmed up to. However, they also announced plans to cut the second shift here, which is estimated to cost 2,500 jobs.
UAW President Sean Fain said those layoffs could trigger his members to stage a walkout against Stellantis.
Fain was here last week outside the UAW Local 140 hall and told those attending the rally that the company owes these workers.
“These taxpayers bailed this company out during a recession,” he said. “I was there. And all they do is continually search for a race to the bottom, for cheaper workers, and they bankrupt communities.”
Fain announced earlier this summer that the UAW would back Vice President Kamala Harris for president but admitted on Fox News that the rank and file would likely vote for former President Donald Trump.
The Republican nominee has said repeatedly that he would use tariffs on imports to protect the auto industry.
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The layoffs could have a larger impact on the Senate race between Republican businessman Bernie Moreno and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) if the incumbent is seen as not being effective in helping the Trumbull County workers avoid losing their jobs.
Brown needs the iconic Mahoning Valley counties of Trumbull, Stark, and Mahoning to turn out big for him in the November Senate race. Moreno won them substantially in the primary, and Brown cannot win without their support in the general election — something former Rep. Tim Ryan failed to do against J.D. Vance in 2022, even though Ryan represented this area for decades.