UAW President Sean Payne chaired the 2023 special election collective bargaining convention in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., March 27, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
DETROIT – Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, issued the following criticism: Stellantis Carlos Tavares, the automaker’s CEO, said in a video posted Friday afternoon that the company has unfairly raised prices for consumers and failed to honor some of the union’s labor contracts with the automaker.
The comments are the latest in an ongoing spat between CEOs and union bosses following contentious collective bargaining talks last year between the UAW and Detroit automakers including Stellantis.
“There’s something rotten at Stellantis,” Fain said at the start of the two-and-a-half-minute video posted Friday. “Sales are down, profits are down, CEO pay is up tremendously. The problem isn’t the market for GM and Ford, the problem isn’t auto sales, the problem isn’t 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 accusations or the video.
The criticisms, including job cuts and Tarvares’ pay, are not new. But Fain’s comments Friday took the argument a step further, accusing Tavares of raising consumer prices in the name of profit. He also alleged that Stellantis is not honoring some of the company’s worker contracts, noting specifically that Stellantis is halting plans to reopen an assembly plant in Illinois.
“In fact, for years, Stellantis has been selling fewer cars but making more profits. What does that mean? They are unfairly raising prices. Now they are going so far that their own sales are plummeting,” Fain said. “In fact, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is trying to go back on promises the company made in the last contract, including putting the brakes on the reopening of the Belvedere Assembly.”
Tavares recently criticized the UAW-Stellantis workforce, pointing to quality issues at a Detroit-area truck plant that produces Ram 1500 pickup trucks. The company also announced thousands of layoffs at U.S. plants due to declining sales and product changes.
“We are not seeing a good pace of execution on some of the initiatives that we are starting in SHAP, Sterling Heights,” Tavares told reporters on July 25, discussing ongoing issues with the company. “That is something that we need to address with our plant management team and our employees.”
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares speaks to the media following the company’s Investor Day at the company’s North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, June 13, 2024.
Michael Weiland / CNBC
Tavares has been on a cost-cutting mission since the company was formed in January 2021 from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group. It’s part of his “Dare Forward 2030” plan to boost profits and double sales to 300 billion euros ($325 billion) by 2030.
Cost-cutting measures included reducing the number of employees, both salaried and hourly, along with restructuring the company’s supply chain and operations.
Stellantis has reduced its workforce by 15.5%, or about 47,500 people, from December 2019 to the end of 2023, according to an official filing, including a 14.5% reduction in North America. This does not include additional reductions and layoffs this year.
Several executives previously told CNBC that the cuts were excessive and harsh. Tavares last month pushed back against the idea that the company’s cost-cutting efforts had led to its current problems.
