Shawn Fain, president of the Detroit-based based United Auto Workers union, took a victory lap on Friday concerning the departure of Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.
“As we all know, Stellantis CEO Carolos Tavares was a huge problem,” Fain said on a video posted by the union.
“Months ago, we were sounding the alarm about he was driving the company straight into the ground,” the union official added. “Sacrificing workers while rewarding himself and his shareholder buddies. We even called for Tavares to be fired….This week, the company announced that Tavares would be resigning effective immediately.”
Stllantis on Sunday announced the departure of Tavares. It said on Monday that a search is “well underway…and will be concluded within the first half of 2025.”
“The company is responding to the pressure and correcting course,” the UAW’s Fain said. “There is no doubt the membership played an important role in forcing him out.”
In 2023, the Detroit-based UAW went on strike against Stellantis, General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. Since then, the union’s grievances included a delay of reopening of a Stellantis factory in Belvidere, Illinois, as part of a settlement of last year’s strike.
Stellantis in September denied it failed to fulfill the 2023 strike settlement.
The UAW and Stellantis are clashing about a delay in the reopening of the Belvidere factory and where the next generation of the Dodge Durango will be built. The UAW has said Stellantis wants to shift Durango production from Michigan to Canada.
“While we know Tavares’ resignation is good news, we know this fight is far from over,” the UAW’s Fain said in his newest message. “He’s leaving behind a mess of painful layoffs and overpriced vehicles sitting on dealership lots.”
Stellantis includes the former Chrysler Corp. The one-time No. 3 U.S. automaker has been part of acquisitions over decades.
At various times, Chrysler was owned by the Germans (Daimler AG), a Wall Street investment company, an Italian automaker (Fiat), and finally its current status as part of a European concern.
Chrysler’s assets include Jeep (which Chrysler acquired in the mid-1980s when it bought the former American Motors.) Jeep is one of Stellantis’ most important properties.
Stellantis, like many legacy automakers, is confronting a shift to electric vehicles. But the shape of that shift remains to be seen.
The UAW’s Fain acknowledged his organization has issues to be resolved.
“Don’t think for a second that just because one man has left the company everything has changed,” he said. “Nobody is going to save us. We have to stand up for ourselves.”
