Stellantis has informed employees at the Detroit Assembly Complex that it will soon proceed with laying off several hundred workers, shortly after announcing a similar staff reduction at the Sterling Heights plant. The company has communicated that by October 1st, contracts for some seasonal employees at various facilities will be terminated and, simultaneously, it plans to carry out layoffs for full-time workers “across its area of responsibility” in order to “optimize operational efficiency”.
Stellantis announces layoffs also for workers at its Detroit Assembly Complex
Regarding Jefferson, 142 supplemental workers are expected to have their contracts terminated and 69 full-time employees will be laid off by the end of the month, as reported in a communication distributed by local United Auto Workers representatives. As for Mack, employees were informed that 170 supplemental workers and 36 full-time workers will be laid off. Supplemental workers, often referred to as temporary workers, are employed to cover shifts of regular employees in Stellantis plants.
Workers at Jefferson build Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs, while Mack builds only the Grand Cherokee. Full-time workers at Jefferson received a message stating that their layoff was “indefinite”, emphasizing that the company was “continuing to take necessary actions to improve operations across all our facilities; this includes ongoing assessments of our production processes to improve efficiency”.
“Stellantis continues to take necessary actions to improve operations in the U.S. market,” stated a Stellantis declaration sent by spokesperson Ann Marie Fortunate. “This includes making changes to production at the Detroit Assembly Complex-Jefferson for general assembly only. Other operations at the facility will continue as scheduled to support production at the Mack Assembly plant.” The statement adds that Stellantis will continue to monitor Jefferson operations and determine “shift by shift” if further production cuts will be necessary.