Stellantis NV is asking its employees to volunteer to cross the United Auto Workers strike line and work in distribution centers that ship vehicle parts to dealers. The call comes from the automaker’s top executives in North America and its diversity and inclusion groups.
On Sept. 22, the UAW called on about 2,150 UAW members who worked at Stellantis’ Mopar parts distribution centers to strike along with similar camps at General Motors Co. after the parties failed to make progress in their collective bargaining negotiations. The move disrupted shipments of vehicle repair parts and aftermarket components from traveling to dealers.
As a result, Stellantis executives called on workers at their non-negotiating units to help maintain the supply of replacement parts. In response to the need, the corporate resource groups focused on marginalized communities also made requests to their members to help, specifically designating days for them to volunteer. The 11 BRGs in the United States include the Women’s Alliance, Stellantis African American Network Diaspora, Prism LGBTQ+ Alliance, Veterans Group, DIVERSE-abilities Network and others.
“Each BRG selects a specific day of the week/weekend to volunteer as a team,” according to a flyer sent to Working Parents Network members obtained by The Detroit News, citing Oct. 13 as the day for parts distribution announces centers. “Help remains the RESOURCE that the COMPANY can count on!”
Those interested had to obtain manager approval, register, and complete training to participate.
The BRGs are part of Stellantis’ diversity and inclusion efforts to make the workplace a place where employees feel like they belong: “They develop multicultural learning opportunities, mentoring and networking events, community outreach initiatives, community service activities and contribute to development and improvement.” “Stellantis human resources policies and processes,” says the automaker’s website.
In a statement from spokeswoman Jodi Tinson, the company declined to say how many employees volunteered for the calls to action.
“Meeting customer needs and maintaining their ongoing loyalty is a top priority,” the statement said. “For this reason, we have recruited non-negotiable volunteers to help the PDCs continue to serve our clients. Our Business Resource Groups, made up of passionate and committed employees, were among the first to raise their hands and expand their role as a resource to the company.
The groups represent thousands of Stellantis employees. Both employees and workers in production and bargaining units are eligible to participate. The company had also begun setting up BRG departments in manufacturing plants to better engage and engage workers there.
The UAW did not immediately comment on the request on Friday.
Included in the request sent by the Working Parents Network was a letter from Mark Stewart, chief operating office in North America, and Mike Koval Jr., the new head of Mopar in North America, detailing promotional efforts among employees of the non-tariff unit .
“After a productive weekend of volunteer support at our Centerline and Marysville, Michigan parts distribution centers, the Mopar team continues to urgently and urgently need volunteers to staff all 18 PDC locations across the country each day,” they wrote. “We urge you to consider supporting this important initiative to maintain customer loyalty, whether they are fleet owners, first responders or our friends and family.”
The company requires volunteers at its Center Line and Marysville centers to meet at its technical center in Auburn Hills and take a chartered bus to the sites. The company has been planning two shifts every day since Wednesday.
Antonio Wright, 28, of Sterling Heights, strikes the Center Line parts distribution center. Wright walks the picket line about every other day in the late afternoon and said he has seen the buses ferrying workers to his workplace, noting that there are usually only a few people on board.
“There are a maximum of five heads,” he said. “I’m frustrated, angry.”
Fifteen is the largest number of people on a bus reported by Larry Wynn, president of UAW Local 1248, which represents workers at Mopar centers in Center Line, Romulus and Warren. In the last days. The buses came every day.
“They’re asking managers to come and do our jobs,” Wynn said. “It’s no different than hiring scabs off the street.”
“There is a long history of companies using corporate or employee resource groups to counter labor movements,” said Patricia Campos-Medina, co-director of the Worker Institute at Cornell University.
Diversity and inclusion “is intended to provide vulnerable communities with a sense of belonging,” she said. Asking workers to cross a strike line “divides them.”
“The UAW’s message of considering gender, racial and age differences was effective,” Campos-Medina added. “That’s why the strike is effective.”
Cheryl Thompson, CEO of the Center for Automotive Diversity, Inclusion and Advancement and a former UAW member herself, said the company often calls on corporate resource groups for education, revenue growth opportunities and recruiting.
“They’re called business resource groups because they also give back to the company,” Thompson said, in contrast to the term “employee resource group.” “These groups support marginalized employees and help them advance their careers. It’s a two-way street and gives something back to the company. The feedback from them improves the culture.”
Ahead of the strike, which began Sept. 15, Ford Motor Co. trained about 1,200 employees to staff 23 parts depots in 15 states as needed. The UAW spared the Dearborn automaker from extending the strike the week it dispatched parts sales workers from Stellantis and General Motors Co. after the Blue Oval made concessions toward the UAW’s demands on tariffs, job security and wages had agreed.
These efforts by automakers, said Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, “show how important these dealers are and how much they need these parts distribution centers.”
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