Stellantis said main bargaining talks are to resume Monday, while some subcommittee negotiations are set for Sunday at GM. UAW President Shawn Fain is scheduled to appear on two national news programs Sunday.
Stellantis said Saturday it hiked its offer, proposing raises of 20 percent over a four-and-a-half-year contract term, including an immediate 10 percent hike. That matches proposals from GM and Ford.
The proposals are about half the 40 percent wage hike the UAW is demanding through 2027, including an immediate 20 percent boost.
Mark Stewart, the North American COO for Stellantis, told reporters Saturday the UAW rejected a proposal to resume operations at an assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill., noting its offer had been contingent on reaching agreement before the contract expiration.
In late February, Stellantis indefinitely idled operations at the Belvidere plant, citing rising costs of EV production.
The UAW criticized the company position on the Illinois plant saying now “they are now taking it back. That’s how they see these workers. A bargaining chip.”
Stellantis said late Saturday is willing to negotiate about the plant’s future. “The truth is UAW leadership ignored Belvidere in favor of a strike,” the company said.
The strikes have halted production at three plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri that produce the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler and Chevrolet Colorado, along with other popular models.
On Friday, Ford said it was indefinitely laying off 600 workers at a Michigan plant because of the impact of the strike at the facility, which makes the Bronco, and GM told some 2,000 workers at a Kansas car plant that their factory likely would be shut down Monday or Tuesday due to a lack of parts, stemming from the strike at a GM Missouri plant.
Besides higher wages, the UAW is demanding shorter work weeks, restoration of defined benefit pensions and stronger job security as automakers make the EV shift.