Duckworth, Durbin call on Stellantis to provide timeline for reopening Belvidere Assembly Plant

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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BELVIDERE — U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin of Illinois joined Bernie Sanders and 20 other Democratic senators Thursday in urging Stellantis to provide a timeline for reopening the Belvidere Assembly Plant.

The plant, which was idled indefinitely at the end of February 2023, has been in the national spotlight as the United Auto Workers union has threatened a strike if the automotive company behind Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep doesn’t fulfill its commitment to reopen the plant with a new product and establish a Mega Hub distribution center in Belvidere.

Stellantis has said it remains committed to the project but was forced to delay action in Belvidere.

In a jointly signed letter to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, the senators said they are concerned that “Stellantis is not keeping the promises it made to strengthen and expand good-paying union jobs in America.”

“Specifically, Stellantis is now delaying planned investments to reopen and expand the Belvidere Assembly Plant, leaving behind thousands of American workers who built the company into the auto giant it is today,” the letter reads.

They wrote that they are also concerned that production of the Dodge Durango, now made in Detroit, will move out of the United States.

The letter comes about two weeks after Sanders visited Belvidere to rally with local UAW members and UAW President Shawn Fain with a similar plea.

The letter echoed similar statements from the rally, saying Stellantis can afford to go forward with opening the plant after making billions of dollars worth of stock buybacks and receiving millions of dollars in government support.

“We believe that if Stellantis can afford to spend over $8 billion this year on stock buybacks and dividends, it can live up to the contractual commitments it made to the UAW,” the letter reads. “This is especially true given the billions of dollars in financial assistance American taxpayers have spent to support your company and the enormous sacrifices autoworkers have been forced to make over many decades.”

The other senators that signed the letter are Gary Peters, D-Michigan, Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, Laphonza Butler, D-California, Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico, Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, Chuck Schumer, D-New York, Tina Smith, D-Minnesota, Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas