BELVIDERE, Ill. (WTVO) — Stellantis plans to build a mid-sized pickup truck at the Belvidere Assembly Plant once it reopens, according to United Auto Workers 1268 Vice President Rich Boyer.
In a YouTube announcement of a tentative agreement between the UAW and Stellantis, alongside UAW President Shawn Fain, Boyer said “UAW family, it is my great honor to announce that we have saved Belvidere. Again, we have saved Belvidere.”
“We have won a new vehicle at Belvidere,” Boyer continued. “It will be a midsize truck, and we will have two shifts.”
Boyer also said Stellantis would be adding 1,000 jobs at a new electric vehicle battery plant in Belvidere.
The Belvidere Assembly Plant, which was idled in February, previously made the Jeep Cherokee.
Neither Boyer nor Stellantis provided further details as to which pickup would be made at the plant, or whether it would feature an internal combustion, electric, or hybrid drivetrain.
Fain said, “We are bringing both combustion vehicle and battery jobs to Belvidere.”
Stellantis manufactures pickup trucks under its Ram division.
In addition to the reopening of the facility, the agreement between UAW and Stellantis also includes a 25 percent wage increase over four years, with 11 percent coming in the first year. Cost of living increases could lift the pay to 33 percent, according to The Hill.
“We got everyone who lost their job at Belvidere put back on temporary layoff, meaning they’ll get sub-pay and healthcare until their job’s back in Belvidere. Under our contract, members from Belvidere who have been scattered across this country will have the right to return back to Belvidere,” Boyer said.
The UAW says the tentative agreement includes substantial pay increases, saying in a press release: “The agreement grants 25% in base wage increases through April 2028, and will cumulatively raise the top wage by 33% compounded with estimated COLA to over $42 an hour. The starting wage will increase by 67% compounded with estimated COLA, to over $30 an hour. The lowest-paid workers at Stellantis, temporary workers, will see a raise of more than 165% over the life of the agreement. Some workers at Mopar will receive an immediate 76% increase upon ratification.”
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