Stellantis NV said Monday it filed nine federal lawsuits against the United Auto Workers and two dozen union locals late last week as it tries to prevent the union from calling a mid-contract strike over its delays reopening an Illinois assembly plant.

The company said the series of lawsuits prompted a Saturday meeting with the UAW, where the union proposed reinstituting a concept known as the Jobs Bank. The automaker said it rejected this proposal, as it had been "a contributing factor to the automaker's bankruptcy in 2009," adding it would "jeopardize the company's future."

The maker of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles filed the first lawsuit Thursday in California, as UAW Local 230 members at Stellantis' Los Angeles Parts Distribution Center became the first local to request strike authorization from the union's International Executive Board. The suit argued a mid-contract strike would be illegal under the terms of the parties' 2023 collective bargaining agreement, and that the court should intervene to prevent one.

The company said it filed eight similar lawsuits across the country on Friday, including in Michigan, naming the union and 23 additional locals, as it seeks to prevent any further moves toward one or multiple plants going out on strike. The suits were filed even before many of the locals had held strike authorization votes.

In a Monday statement, the company warned that it "will hold the UAW and its locals responsible for lost revenue, which could amount to tens of millions a day, and other damages resulting from lost production due to an unlawful strike." Jodi Tinson, a Stellantis spokesperson, said Monday that more lawsuits were expected to be filed this week.

The dispute between Stellantis and the UAW began heating up in August. That's when the UAW warned that its Stellantis locals across the country were filing grievances with the company over its delays reopening the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois — commitments outlined in the 2023 labor contract after thousands had been laid off from the plant in recent years. The union warned that the grievance process, if unresolved, could ultimately result in a national strike.

In addition, UAW locals more recently filed grievances over concerns that Stellantis could be aiming to move production of the Dodge Durango from the Detroit Assembly Complex to a plant in Canada, which the union says would also violate the contract.

Both the company and union have been communicating their arguments directly to their employees and membership, respectively, in recent days. A Stellantis executive sent an email to U.S. employees Friday stating the company isn't canceling its Belvidere plans, but needs to delay them due to current market challenges, including a slower transition to electric vehicles than anticipated. UAW leaders also sent a note to members Friday calling the company's efforts an "all-out misinformation campaign in an attempt to scare and confuse us," adding that officials have "complete confidence in our right to strike."

Stellantis said during the Saturday meeting, the UAW proposed reinstating the Jobs Bank for laid-off employees at Belvidere, as well as "approximately 900 employees who transferred from Belvidere and are working at other locations." But the company "rejected the UAW's latest proposal because it would revert to prebankruptcy terms and conditions that would jeopardize the company's future."

Tinson said the proposal was "just not a good idea" as it would mean about 1,800 former Belvidere workers would be paid not to work. Such a proposal is "not sustainable for the company," she said.

The Jobs Bank was first implemented in the mid-1980s by General Motors Co. and later adopted by Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler, Stellantis' predecessor. Its aim was to protect workers from plant shutdowns and layoffs, and allowed workers to collect most of their pay and benefits even without working, sometimes for years.

A UAW spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for more information about the Jobs Bank proposal Monday.

©2024 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.