The Indiana Economic Development Corp. is committing a state-record incentive package to the joint venture for the second plant, topping the previous record-setting package pledged for the first plant last year.
With the UAW strike now in its fourth week, EVs and their potential impact on job security have become central to union negotiations with the automakers.
In just a few months, Shawn Fain has gone from obscurity to one of the most visible leaders in America, demanding that his workers get more concessions from the Big Three automakers after two decades of givebacks.
The United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three automakers is once again having an effect on Indiana workers.
A clue of possible strike targets might be found in locations where UAW locals have announced they will hold rallies and practice picketing in the coming days. Those include a Ford plant in Louisville and a GM plant in Bedford, Indiana.
UAW President Shawn Fain said more factories could be targeted if “serious progress” toward an agreement isn’t reached by Friday at noon. “We’re not messing around,” he said.
It was the first time in the UAW’s 88-year history that it walked out on all three companies simultaneously, as four-year contracts with the companies expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
Subaru CEO Atsushi Osaki told reporters during a meeting in Tokyo that Indiana could become the next location of an electric vehicle production site, Reuters reported.
Union President Shawn Fain said the final decision on which plants to strike won’t be announced until 10 p.m. Thursday.
In an online address to union members, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said General Motors, Ford and Stellantis have raised their initial wage offers, but have rejected some of the union’s other demands.
Vince Donargo—a veteran financial executive who has worked for several Indianapolis public companies—plans to step down from his position as chief financial officer of Calumet Specialty Products Partners on Dec. 31 and retire at the end of April.
Stellantis, which employs about 7,000 people at plants in Kokomo and Tipton in Indiana, released no details of its offer Monday.
The company, which specializes in metal fabrication and machining, is in the midst of a 51,000-square-foot expansion that will boost its ability to make components for one major customer in the microchip industry.
A strike against all three major automakers—General Motors, Stellantis and Ford—could cause damage not only to the industry as a whole but also to the Midwest economy, and could lead eventually to higher vehicle prices.
The joint venture will initially focus on the production of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries for commercial battery-electric trucks.
The United Auto Workers union says it has filed unfair labor practice complaints against Stellantis and General Motors for failing to make counteroffers to the union’s economic demands.
The settlement would avert a potentially much larger liability that 3M sought to curb through a controversial bankruptcy case involving Indianapolis-based Aearo Technologies that ultimately collapsed.
If it doesn’t have contracts with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis by the Sept. 14 deadline, the UAW could strike all three simultaneously—something it has never done.
Plans call for the development to include a 368,000-square-foot main manufacturing plant, a 78,000-square-foot cold storage building and an 86,000-square-foot beverage plant.
The plant produces automotive switch-related components such as steering pad switches, power seat switches, hazards, and door lock switches.
