UAW:Stellantis agrees to build a $3.2 billion new battery plant in Illinois with a 25% pay rise

CTOnews.com, Nov. 3 (Reuters)-Stellantis has agreed to build a $3.2 billion new battery factory in Illinois under a tentative UAW labor agreement and to invest $1.5 billion (currently about 10.98 billion yuan) in a new medium-sized truck factory in Illinois.

Shawn Fain, chairman of UAW, revealed new details of the labor agreement, including a 25 per cent pay rise, better retirement benefits and other major improvements, which will last until April 2028.

Stellantis will also offer subsidized leasing programs for hourly workers, and production workers will receive a coupon of $1500 (currently about 10980 yuan) to buy new cars, UAW said.

UAW detailed Stellantis's investment plans, the biggest of which was to persuade the company to reopen its assembly plant in Belleville, Illinois, which closed in February.

The Belvidale assembly plant will start producing 80,000-100000 medium-sized trucks a year in 2027, while the battery plant will open in 2028.

Stellantis will invest $3.5 billion in three assembly plants in Michigan, including $1.5 billion in a Detroit plant to produce the Dodge Durango and the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. In North America, Stellantis has focused its investment on trucks and SUV and is betting on gasoline-powered and electric cars by 2028.

Stellantis will also offer $50, 000 buyouts to UAW production workers in 2024 and 2026, cutting costs by hiring new workers with lower starting salaries.

UAW said Stellantis's total investment commitments were about $19 billion (currently about 139.08 billion yuan).