DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – United Auto Workers opted for a new striking strategy on Monday morning as the auto union called 6,800 members of Local 1700 to strike against Stellantis’ largest plant, Sterling Heights Assembly. 

The UAW members who help make the RAM 1500 trucks are joining the Stand Up Strike. This raises the total members striking to more than 40,000 UAW Members across the Big Three. 

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This marks the second surprise strike since the Stand Up Strike began more than a month ago.  The first occurred on Oct. 11 when UAW Members were told to strike Ford’s Louisville, truck plant in Kentucky, adding an additional 8,700 UAW members to the strike. 

Stellantis announced that it would lay off an additional 100 employees at its Toledo Machining Plant in Ohio, effective Monday.  Overall, the company has 1,500 employees on layoff due to the strike. 

Over the weekend, Ford Motor Company announced a series of layoffs, partially related to the United Auto Workers Stand Up Strike that has lasted more than a month. 

The Dearborn based auto company is one of the three main auto manufacturers that the UAW is striking against, and revealed that more than 100 employees would be laid off due to ripples from the strike at the Sterling Heights plant.  

“Our production system is highly interconnected, which means the UAW’s targeted strike strategy has knock-on effects for facilities that are not directly targeted for a work stoppage. In this case, the strike at Kentucky Truck Plant has directly impacted some operations at Sterling Axle Plant,” the company said in a statement late Wednesday. “This layoff is a consequence of the strike, because Sterling Axle Plant must reduce its production of parts that would normally be shipped to Kentucky Truck Plant.” 

With the recent layoffs, Ford has now released more than 2,700 workers from its operations. 

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Last Friday, UAW President Shawn Fain announced via Facebook Live a brief Strike Update, including a rejection of Ford’s previous call for unity against other companies like Toyota, Honda, and Tesla. 

“I want to be crystal clear on one thing – the days of the UAW and Ford being a team to fight other companies are over, we won’t be used in this phony competition.” United Auto Worker President Shawn Fain said on a Facebook Live broadcast. “We will always and forever be on the side of working people everywhere; non-union auto workers are not the enemy, those are our future union family.” 

The new strike against Stellantis happened the same morning the company released a video detailing its new Commercial Vehicles Strategy and new global van lineup, in which Jean-Philippe Imparato, Head of Commercial Vehicles Business Unit. 

“One, we are proud, proud to share with you how much we care about this business-commercial vehicle that is at the core of the transformation of our world, not only the company, the world,” Imparato said during the unveiling. 

UAW President Fain joined the newest additions to the Stand Up Strike at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant and passed out signs.