Stellantis aims to cut about 3,500 hourly jobs in the U.S. by offering buyouts and retirement incentives to workers ahead of negotiations with the UAW later this year.
UAW Local 1264, which represents the Stellantis stamping plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., said in a letter to members that the offers would be made “corporate wide.”
Retirement-eligible workers hired before ratification of Chrysler’s 2007 contract with the UAW can receive $50,000 to leave their job, according to the letter, which Local 1264 posted Monday on Facebook. Employees who have been with the company for at least a year would be eligible for a lump-sum benefit payment, the letter said, without specifying how much that would be.
Workers can sign up for either package from May 6 through June 19. Departure dates are tentatively scheduled for June 30 through Dec. 31, depending on each plant’s needs.
The openings would be filled by workers on indefinite layoff, the letter said.
A Stellantis spokesperson didn’t immediately comment on the plan.
The 3,500-job target would represent about 8 percent of the 43,000 hourly workers who were eligible to collect a profit-sharing check from Stellantis in March.
The attrition incentives come as Stellantis prepares to launch 25 electric vehicles in the U.S. by 2030. CEO Carlos Tavares has said that the automaker must find savings as it ramps up production for EVs that are more costly to build than conventional gasoline models.
In February, Stellantis idled its Jeep Cherokee plant in Belvidere, Ill. The company cited a number of factors behind that decision, including the COVID-19 pandemic, global microchip shortage and costs related to developing and building EVs.
The UAW’s newly elected president, Shawn Fain, last week said that decision had “fractured” the union’s relationship with Stellantis.
General Motors recently offered buyouts to its salaried workers, about 5,000 of whom agreed to leave the company.
Ford has also trimmed its white-collar ranks over the last year.
The U.S. auto market continues to recover from the pandemic and microchip shortage, with first-quarter deliveries jumping 8.4 percent, mostly on higher fleet volume and stable pent-up retail demand.
But the rebound has been uneven among automakers, and the industry faces market pressure from rising interest rates and new-vehicle prices that have sidelined some consumers.
Stellantis’ first-quarter U.S. sales slipped 9.1 percent behind declines at the company’s two biggest brands: Jeep volume skidded 20 percent and Ram deliveries dropped 6.8 percent.
