DETROIT — A vice president of the United Auto Workers made an impassioned call Tuesday to save an indefinitely idled Jeep plant in Illinois on day two of the Detroit-based union's bargaining convention.
"The only thing that matters is that we decide to stay together," said Rich Boyer, UAW vice president and the head of the Stellantis Department. "When will we quit letting them rip our hands apart knuckle by knuckle, ball our fist and punch them in the mouth? We have to start punching back."
The graphic comment is a sign of the militant rhetoric of the new leadership that has overtaken the union under the direct election of international leaders by its more than 1 million members. The language used by the leaders that had been endorsed by the Unite All Workers for Democracy Caucus suggests an aggressive approach to contract talks later this year: already they are expected to be made tough by inflation, the transition to electric vehicles and competition for allocation with the UAW's Canadian counterpart, Unifor, which will be negotiating at the same time as the UAW for the first time in years.
Among the priorities for the union will be saving Belvidere Assembly Plant, the previous home of the aged Jeep Cherokee crossover. Stellantis NV began idling the plant at the end of February, affecting 1,350 workers. It cited the costs of electrification as well as supply-chain challenges like the global microchip shortage.
A representative for Stellantis declined to comment on Boyer's remarks.
The automaker has said it will seek to find jobs at out-of-state facilities for workers. It's looking at other possible uses for the plant, though the reception of EVs will play into its manufacturing footprint decisions, CEO Carlos Tavares has said. Stellantis would have to negotiate with the UAW to close the plant permanently.
"We have to stand together, brothers and sisters, every one of us," Boyer said, receiving a standing ovation from delegates at the convention. "I'm going to make one commitment to everybody in this room: If you're in trouble, we're coming. Stellantis is coming. We're coming to your side. We're going to walk the line with you. We're going to do whatever we've got to do to make sure you survive, because there's nothing worse than facing your membership and looking them in the eye and saying, 'You ain't got s--- for them.' You understand?
"Stand before 2,000 people to tell them, 'I have no future for them.' Tell them that nobody cares about them. I am not doing it. I will not do it, and I expect everyone in this room to stand up. We have to be one. Brothers and sisters, all this b---- has to stop."
The remarks from Boyer, who was elected in the UAW's first direct election of its 14-member International Executive Board in December, comes after reports about a strategy plan under the newly elected President Shawn Fain that call him the "new sheriff in town" with possible shakeups in staffing.
As for negotiations, the proposal calls for the launch of a national training program involving members. Such a campaign would mobilize members and resources for actions such as informational pickets and the formation of contract action teams.
Meanwhile, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke at the convention Tuesday, taking a victory lap on the heels of her signing bills to repeal Michigan's right-to-work law and to reinstate the prevailing wage standard for state-funded construction projects. The decade-old, Republican-backed right-to-work law allowed workers in unionized workplaces to opt out of paying union dues or fees as a condition of their employment.
"I know you all have heard we've been a little busy in Lansing — in a good way for a change," Whitmer said. "A lot of us were skeptical whether or not this day would ever come. But with grit and solidarity and an overwhelming result at the ballot box last fall, we are here."
She called the UAW "a phenomenal partner" and vowed "so long as I'm in office, to be a phenomenal partner to you, too."
As governor, Whitmer has positioned herself as friendly to both labor and business interests. She has touted the legislative victories backed by labor that Democrats have secured since winning a majority in state government. She also has led strategies such as using the state's Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve fund to chase large economic development projects.
"Here in Michigan," Whitmer said, "we will reject false choices and become a state where workers thrive and businesses can succeed."
