Now there are security cameras up and ‘no trespassing’ signs up.” MoneymakerĪll this raises the question: Why are the Big Three going to such lengths to keep after-sales parts flowing to customers? One would think that there would be dumpsters if they were dismantling the place. There are no industrial dumpsters on site. “There are still semis coming in and out. “We don’t believe it’s true,” said Montes. (It was formerly owned by a supplier, Yanfeng.) Linda Montes, a laid-off Belvidere worker, says they were told the facility was being dismantled. These new workers report that they are handling the same parts that would normally be handled by PDCs, and have confirmed this by a comparison of parts labels. “This is bargaining unit work and we should have been offered it,” Frantzen said. In reality, the company has been staffing the warehouse with newly hired nonunion workers - which Stellantis is trying to keep secret because there are 1,300 laid-off UAW members from the assembly plant who still live in the area. Why was the parking lot filled with workers’ cars if the plant was indefinitely shuttered? “It’s none of your business,” the security guard said. Security sits outside the building in a Jeep Grand Cherokee.”Īt the low-slung building a security guard parks the Cherokee diagonally across the parking lot entrance and chases away reporters like Labor Notes’ Luis Feliz Leon, who visited the plant in August. “They’ve increased the number of security cameras outside of the facility recently,” said Frantzen. The closure has been a flash point in negotiations. Members are angry because the plant has been idled without product since February, with devastating consequences for the community. Matt Frantzen, president of UAW Local 1268, which represented Belvidere Assembly workers, has been sending out emails to his members since he learned about stockpiling at the neighboring warehouse. But whatever the manufacturing source, if a part is processed through a Big Three distribution center, the results are the same: high profits. Some of these parts are manufactured at a Big Three plant, while others are purchased from suppliers. Chances are, the part you need will be delivered to the dealership from a PDC - a gigantic warehouse - operated directly by Ford, GM, or Stellantis. Either way, you’ll likely go to the dealership for a new part. Or maybe it’s time to upgrade the grab handles on your Jeep. Say you get into an accident, and you need a brand-new door. There are likely ten thousand workers across these centers, which are more geographically dispersed than the seventy-five manufacturing plants concentrated in the Midwest, as shown on this map of Big Three worksites. The Big Three operate about sixty after-sales PDCs across twenty-five states. Meanwhile Stellantis has been making its own preparations to weather a strike by stockpiling parts at a facility in Belvidere, Illinois, near its recently shuttered Belvidere Assembly Plant. They also expressed a desire not to scab on fellow workers. Some salaried employees raised concerns about safety - a nonunion employee got into an accident during the 2021 John Deere strike. Parts distribution centers (PDCs) are marked in green, while manufacturing facilities are gold. In August, reports leaked that Ford was preparing to deploy 1,200 nonunion salaried employees to PDCs, or as Ford calls them, high velocity centers (HVCs). The Cobb County School District is committed to parent, family and community engagement, and it is our hope that by providing this tool on our website that we are making our information more accessible to families whose first language is not English and thereby enabling better engagement in public education.The automakers General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis are hurtling toward a showdown with United Auto Workers (UAW) as contract talks approach the September 14 strike deadline.Īs the Big Three automakers scramble to make contingency plans, they are shining a spotlight on one specific part of the supply chain: the parts distribution centers (PDCs) that supply after-sales spare parts and accessories to dealerships. Before you act on translated information, the District encourages you to confirm any facts that are important to you and affect any decisions you may make. The Cobb County School District does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of any translated information. The basic translation’s goal is to capture the general intention of the original English material. Google Translate is a free service and currently offers translation in over 50 languages, although an impressive number, this does not capture all languages or dialects. The quality of the translation will vary in some of the languages offered by Google. The electronic translation service is hosted by Google Translate.
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