Stellantis workers left wondering if more layoffs are coming
Following President Trump's latest round of tariffs, Stellantis is now planning to temporarily lay off a combined 330 employees between its Warren Stamping Plant and Sterling Stamping Plant.
The layoffs begin Monday and are expected to last for several weeks.
These layoffs taking place in Warren and Sterling Heights are among the 900 workers in total being laid off by Stellantis across five plants in the Midwest.
UAW Local 869 President Romaine McKinney III says workers are terrified about what's coming. UAW Local 869 represents about 800 workers at the Warren Stamping Plant.
"They think there are more layoffs coming; they think again that the tariffs will drive Stellantis to do indefinite layoffs, and to be quite honest, I do too," McKinney said.
Around 170 workers at the Warren Stamping plant and 160 at the Sterling Stamping plant will be laid off on Monday following the decision by Stellantis to pause production at one assembly plant each in Mexico and Canada.
McKinney says he's optimistic about the long-term goals of Mr. Trump's tariffs, but that in the meantime, he's worried for autoworkers.
"I definitely see the short-term pain, which I think is going to be a little longer than short-term, but I'm hoping for the best," he said. "Tariffs will definitely affect Stellantis more than others because we have so many second-tier suppliers that provide Stellantis with subparts, nuts and bolts."
UAW President Shawn Fain praised Mr. Trump's move to impose tariffs on foreign vehicles. McKinney says he respects and admires Fain, but he's waiting for results to change.
"Until you get those suppliers back to the States, Stellantis will have a problem," McKinney said.
For the workers who are being temporarily laid off, they are eligible to receive unemployment and subpay, which will come out to about 80-85% of their typical salary.
