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UAW fears Stellantis wants to move Dodge Durango production from Detroit to Canada

Luke Ramseth, The Detroit News on

Published in Business News

The United Auto Workers says it's worried Stellantis NV wants to move Dodge Durango SUV production from Detroit to Canada, adding that the company has refused to share any information about its vehicle plans or investments recently.

The union said it filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday, which it said was prompted by its Durango concerns and inability to get more details from Stellantis. The filing alleged the automaker in recent months has been illegally "refusing to provide the Union with relevant information."

In its 2023 labor contract with Stellantis, the union secured certain vehicle and investment commitments at a number of U.S. plants. The Durango is built at the Detroit Assembly Complex, and the contract states that the full-size SUV will continue being built there — including after the next-generation gas and electric versions are introduced in 2026.

But the Windsor Star recently reported that Durango production was expected to move to the Windsor Assembly Plant by 2026, citing product projections by Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions.

In a Monday statement, Stellantis declined to directly address the Durango production location. The company said it had not yet received the union's filing.

"The Company has not violated the commitments made in the Investment Letter included in the 2023 UAW Collective Bargaining Agreement," said the statement sent by spokesperson Jodi Tinson. "Like all of our competitors, Stellantis is attempting to carefully manage how and when we bring new vehicles to market with a focus on enhancing our competitiveness and ensuring our future sustainability and growth. We will communicate our plans to the UAW at the appropriate time."

Separate from the unfair labor practice charge, the UAW said several of its locals had also filed grievances with the company over the Durango concerns. The grievance language says the union has "repeatedly" asked Stellantis to deny the Windsor production reports, but the company has refused to do so, or otherwise clarify its intentions.

 

"The Union demands that the Company rescind any decision to produce the next generation Durango outside the United States and confirm that it is planning for, funding and will launch the next generation Durango on schedule at (Detroit Assembly Complex) in 2026," the grievance states.

The UAW's Durango campaign is aligned with a similar UAW effort to force Stellantis to reopen its shuttered Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois on time, under a schedule it agreed to in the 2023 contract.

The company says while it's delaying the Belvidere reopening, it remains committed to eventually operating a parts distribution center and producing a midsize truck at the plant, as agreed to in the contract. But the union is worried Stellantis might never reopen the facility.

As with the Durango issue, UAW locals have filed grievances over the Belvidere reopening delays. The union is also threatening a national strike if those grievances go unresolved.

The union said there are now more than two dozen open grievances over the Durango and Belvidere issues.

“In our 2023 contract, we won major gains, including a commitment to reopen an idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and to build the Dodge Durango in Detroit," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a Monday statement. "We also won the right to strike over those commitments, if we have to. Now, Stellantis wants to go back on the deal. As a united UAW, we intend to enforce our contract, and to make Stellantis keep the promise.”


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