Belvidere UAW workers react to pending contract deal with Stellantis, reopening of plant
When the assembly plant where Joe Szakalski worked in Syracuse, New York, closed in 2006, it was devastating not only for Szakalski and his family, but for the city as well.
Szakalski said he dreaded going through that all over again when Stellantis idled the Belvidere Assembly Plant in February, laying off 1,200 workers ahead of contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers.
"I come from a closed facility, so I know what it means to uproot your family — what it means to move away from everybody you love. It's heartbreaking," Szakalski said. "It just makes you feel good that these guys got — that we got — what we deserved. We're a great plant. We did everything they've asked us to do, and this is the reward we should be getting."
After a strategic "stand-up strike," the UAW reached a tentative agreement that will mean wage increases of 25% and the return of cost of living adjustments in case of inflation. It also means Stellantis, maker of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram among others, will revive the Belvidere Assembly Plant.
Plans are not only to hire thousands of workers to build a mid-sized battery-powered truck — possibly a Ram truck — at the enormous Belvidere facility on two shifts, but to also produce batteries at a new adjacent facility and operate a parts distribution center.
It could mean that other nearby Stellantis distribution centers are shuttered, and their operations moved to Belvidere.
More: In this fight together: Belvidere UAW members picket in Toledo with familiar faces
UAW members are expected to learn more details about the tentative agreement this week and possibly vote on ratification Nov. 9.
Szakalski said Rockford area workers — who he considers to be some of the best in the world in terms of quality and dependability — are ready to get back to work.
On Wednesday, the laid off workers organized a food, winter clothes and pet supply giveaway in conjunction with the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Dozens of community residents lined up hours before the drive even opened seeking assistance.
Casey Mattson, a Belvidere native and 25-year plant veteran whose father worked at the Belvidere Assembly Plant for 35 years until he retired, volunteered at the event, directing traffic. Mattson said he had bought a house just before the plant was idled. He was laid off along with his girlfriend.
"There's a lot of people I know from from Belvidere that are involved with Chrysler, one way or another, whether it be the supplier plants or whatever," Mattson said. "I know there were a lot of jobs, a lot of people affected by this. Of course, we had to sit and worry about what we were going to do and whether we were going to have to leave."
Nichelle Cruz of Rockford has worked for the company for nearly 30 years. She was transferred to the Belvidere Assembly Plant with her husband after a facility in St. Louis was closed in 2008. Her husband was forced to relocate to Toledo, Ohio, four years ago when shifts were cut in Belvidere.
"I'm getting my husband back!" Cruz said.
Cruz said news that the sacrifices of the strike appear to have been successful was emotional for union members whose lives have been upended.
"It’s overwhelming — don't get me to start crying again," Cruz said. "You know, we got the COLA back. We lost that years ago. We haven't had a raise. I'm overjoyed. The company has been greedy. Corporate greed. They have been making billions of dollars, and we are getting our fair share. We are getting what's due to us."
Learning that the Belvidere plant has bright future as part of the tentative agreement was a like a weight being lifted off the workers' shoulders, said UAW Local 1268 second vice president Stacey Dahle.
"You worry and wonder about what your future is going to be," said Dahle, whose father, brother and sister have worked for Chrysler in Belvidere. "When you get laid off and you know you're a bargaining chip, you hope that you don't have to move."
In addition to the provisions about Belvidere, it's an agreement that is good enough to earn Dahle's support for the first time in more than two decades.
"It's a nice tentative agreement — one that for the first time in 25 years, this guy is going to vote 'yes' for," Dahle said. "I voted 'no' for the last 25 years to every contract. It's American jobs, and it's the commitment that they're making to Belvidere."
Jeff Kolkey can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Laid off Stellantis employees eager to revive idled Belvidere plant
