Illinois

Stellantis idles Illinois plant, takes step toward closure

Published

2 years ago

February 28, 2023

Stellantis idles Illinois plant, takes step toward closure

DETROIT – Stellantis is shifting nearer to closing its manufacturing facility in Belvidere, Illinois, because it prepares for the expensive transition from inner combustion to electrical autos.

The manufacturing facility, which now employs about 1,350 employees, formally was positioned on “idle” by the corporate on Tuesday. That time period means it intends to close down the plant.

Belvidere’s future is more likely to be a lightning-rod situation in nationwide contract talks arising this summer season with the United Auto Staff union, one that might convey a painful strike.

In a press release Tuesday, the UAW stated that the choice to idle the plant won’t go uncontested.

“This financial dislocation is a selection made by Stellantis to reap even increased revenue,” union Vice President Wealthy Boyer stated in a press release. “We’ll spotlight their company greed to employees, neighborhood, taxpayers, and shoppers.”

In a gathering with reporters Tuesday, Carlos Tavares, CEO of the corporate fashioned by combining Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Peugeot, stated Stellantis is “searching for options” for Belvidere, which now has no new car to construct. The final Jeep Cherokee small SUV rolled off the plant’s meeting line on Tuesday.

The corporate, Tavares stated, is executing a metamorphosis to electrical autos, that are 40% costlier to make than these with inner combustion engines. Stellantis, he stated, cannot cross the elevated prices to shoppers as a result of many would not be capable of afford new vehicles. It can also’t promote EVs at a loss, so it is left with absorbing the added prices.

“We have to adapt to this new world,” Tavares stated. “The fact of the transformation of the market is the truth that we have to face.”

He stated the corporate shouldn’t be looking for particular concessions from the Belvidere plant. “It is a international situation. This isn’t a Belvidere situation,” he stated.

Stellantis, Tavares stated, has to optimize its manufacturing and distribution footprints. “If we don’ repair it then all people’s going to be in bother,” he stated.

However UAW President Ray Curry stated the corporate’s “ill-advised choice” will disrupt lives, uproot households and trigger repercussions by the regional components provide chain community. Shawn Fain, his opponent in a UAW officers’ election that’s coming to an finish quickly, stated the union ought to have enforced clauses in its contract that stop crops from being closed.

The union stated it has negotiated, and Tavares stated the corporate has agreed to, retirement packages in addition to voluntary termination and pre-retirement leaves for employees. It is also engaged on relocation for employees, the UAW assertion stated. The union says about 2,300 workers are affected.

The Belvidere plant may wind up making Stellantis the lead firm in contract talks that open this summer season with the Detroit Three automakers. As a possible warning to the automakers, the union final week raised strike pay from $400 to $500 per week.

Prior to now two years the UAW has change into extra aggressive in opposition to employers as employees have change into extra scarce. It has gone on strike in opposition to CNH Industrial, Deere & Co., the College of California system and Volvo Vehicles to win bigger pay raises and different advantages.

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Illinois

Illinois counties exploring succession would be welcomed in Indiana: House speaker

Published

3 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Illinois counties exploring succession would be welcomed in Indiana: House speaker

Several Illinois counties that have explored the idea of secession might be welcomed with open arms in Indiana.

Legislators in Indiana’s Republican-majority General Assembly have introduced a house bill that would establish a commission to discuss whether it’s advisable to adjust the boundary between Illinois and Indiana.

The House Republicans included the bill on a list of their top priorities for the 2025 session, which specifically noted that dozens of counties in Illinois have voted since 2020 “to secede from their high-tax state,” the Indianapolis Star reported.

“To all of our neighbors in the West, we hear your frustrations and invite you to join us in low-cost, low-tax Indiana,” House Speaker Todd Huston said, according to the newspaper.

In the November election, a total of seven counties in Illinois faced a ballot question on exploring the idea of secession, and all seven voted in favor of the proposal, according to county clerks’ offices. The group includes: Iroquois, Calhoun, Clinton, Green, Jersey, Madison and Perry counties.

Prior to the 2024 election cycle, at least two dozen counties voted affirmatively on the non-binding initiatives.

The reasoning behind the referendums, according to supporters, is that the city of Chicago and Cook County have a sizable impact on the policies enacted by the state legislature, and rural counties share different interests that are not being represented by the actions of the General Assembly.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Indiana’s proposal “a stunt” earlier this week.

“…It’s not going to happen, he said. “But I’ll just that say Indiana is a low-wage state that doesn’t protect workers, a state that does not provide health care for people when they’re in need and so I don’t think it’s very attractive for anybody in Illinois…”

Many legal experts have expressed skepticism that such an effort could ever be successful. That group includes Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who penned a letter to the state’s attorney of Jersey County on the issue in 2023.

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Illinois

#10 Illinois vs #2 Iowa Wrestling – Live Updates – FloWrestling

Published

10 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

#10 Illinois vs #2 Iowa Wrestling – Live Updates – FloWrestling

#10 Illinois faces #2 Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, on Friday, January 17 at 6 p.m. CT. Follow along here for live updates from the dual.

Probable Match-ups
125: Caelan Riley, SO vs #28 Joey Cruz, SO
133: #2 Lucas Byrd, SR vs #3 Drake Ayala, JR
141: #17 Danny Pucino, SR vs #21 Ryder Block, FR, 2-2 or Jace Rhodes, SO, 5-2 or Cullan Schriever, SR, 3-5
149: #15 Kannon Webster, FR vs #3 Kyle Parco, SR
157: #22 Jason Kraisser, SR vs Miguel Estrada, FR
165: #15 Braeden Scoles, FR vs #2 Michael Caliendo, JR
174: #19 Danny Braunagel, JR vs #5 Patrick Kennedy, JR
184: #13 Edmond Ruth, SR vs #5 Gabe Arnold, FR or Angelo Ferrari, FR
197: #13 Zac Braunagel, SR vs #1 Stephen Buchanan, SR
285: #11 Luke Luffman, SR vs #13 Ben Kueter, FR

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Illinois

GoFundMe page reaches goal after West Springfield woman is found dead in Forest Park

Published

18 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

GoFundMe page reaches goal after West Springfield woman is found dead in Forest Park

Local News

A GoFundMe page created to pay for memorial services for Joann Garelli has reached its fundraising goal in one week.

A GoFundMe page has raised more than $5,000 to assist with memorial service costs for a West Springfield woman who was found dead earlier this month in Springfield’s Forest Park.

Joann Garelli, 56, was found dead Jan. 7 in the Camp Star Angelina area of Forest Park, according to a Facebook post from Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni.

Garelli’s death is currently under investigation by the Hampden District Attorney’s Office and the Springfield Police Detective Bureau’s Homicide Unit.

Andrew Santiago created the GoFundMe page to help his wife, Elizabeth Herd, pay for her mother’s memorial service, according to the page. On the page, Santiago called for an end to violence against women.

“[T]he violence and abuse of women are not taken seriously and we all need to come together as one to help prevent these attacks on women!” Santiago wrote.

The page was created Jan. 9 and will remain open until Garelli’s memorial service, which is scheduled to be held Jan. 21.

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