Stellantis offers buyouts, early retirements for some UAW workers
Stellantis has announced a new round of buyouts and early retirement offers for some United Auto Workers employees.
The buyouts will be offered from March 24 through May 8. Only non-skilled, labor employees are eligible.
Automotive experts believe the buyouts are a cost-cutting move by reducing the workforce.
"I am not surprised. Stellantis has some tough decisions to make," said Jan Griffiths, Gravitas Detroit founder and automotive industry expert. "To use their words, they're going through a period of reset.
"This is a way to start to reduce the workforce, and it's never good news, but it's much better than a hard layoff."
Buyouts will range from $50,000 to $72,000 and are based on the employee's seniority.
The UAW says it negotiated a package deal with the automaker's new leadership team, which provides workers with several options.
"For those ready to retire, there's a clear path. For others, voluntary termination is now on the table," said UAW Stellantis Department Director Kevin Gotinsky.
Stellantis has responded to the buyouts with the following statement:
Stellantis continues to review its operations to improve efficiency and protect its competitiveness in a very dynamic market.
To help in that effort, the Company announced that it is offering voluntary termination of employment and retirement incentive packages to represented production employees at its manufacturing and Mopar facilities in Detroit and Toledo as well as production, skilled and salaried bargaining unit employees at its facilities in Illinois. Eligible represented employees have until May 8 to decide.
Griffiths believes the move is also a response to tariffs from a company that's been struggling to rebound under years of mismanagement. She believes the auto industry is headed for a major change, and with tariffs looming, she says the new COO of Stellantis, Antonio Filosa, has things moving in the right direction.
"This is the beginning of many measures; not just Stellantis, but every automaker has to take as they grapple with tariffs and the transformation to the electric vehicle. It's happening; it's just a matter of when," Griffiths said.
