(Bloomberg) — Stellantis NV’s tentative agreement to end the six-week strike by the United Auto Workers includes $19 billion in new investment, such as reviving an idled assembly plant and building a new battery plant in Illinois, the union said Thursday.
Stellantis will restart its idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois in 2027. The plant, which at one point employed 5,000 workers, will run two shifts to build a mid-size pickup truck, according to a UAW summary of the deal, which still has to be voted on by the company’s roughly 43,000 union members. Stellantis also plans to build a $3.2 billion battery plant in Illinois with a still to be determined partner that will employ 1,300 people when it opens in 2028, the UAW said.
Stellantis agreed to a “card check” process to make it quicker and easier for new workers at battery joint ventures to unionize, according to UAW President Shawn Fain. And if they do, they will then be covered under the existing master agreement.
All employees who work for the battery joint venture will be employed by Stellantis and leased to the joint venture, an arrangement that allows the factories to be covered under the union’s master agreement, Fain and UAW vice president Rich Boyer said in a livestreamed address Thursday evening.
“Having this work under our national agreement is critical to the future of our industry and the union,” Fain said, because it allows the union to fight for higher battery pay in the next round of talks. “Wherever this industry goes, the UAW’s going with it, and we’re bringing the standards we fought for to the EV transition.”
The union needs to organize factories making EV parts because plants making engines, transmissions and other parts for today’s conventional vehicles will eventually be phased out in favor of plants making batteries, electric motors and other components.
Current UAW members at Stellantis who transfer into battery jobs will bring their current pay, benefits and seniority along with them, Fain said. New hires at the battery joint ventures will start at 75% of the maximum pay rate under the national agreement, or about $26 an hour.
So far, only the Ultium battery plant in Ohio that’s jointly owned by General Motors Co. and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution Ltd. is unionized. Starting pay has been $16.50 an hour but workers ratified a deal in August that raises wages by $3 to $4 an hour.
The UAW also won the immediate conversion of thousands of temporary workers, and any new temp workers will be converted to full time after nine months, Fain said.
Among the Detroit Three, Stellantis has the highest proportion of temporary employees, accounting for about 12% of workers.
The UAW also ended decades-old wage tiers for workers at the company’s 38 parts distribution centers, who make lower pay than vehicle production workers, Boyer said. That means an immediate raise of as much as 76% for some workers, he said.
In exchange, the union agreed to let Stellantis consolidate the centers into regional Amazon-like hubs.
“It wasn’t an easy choice or decision, but we took the consolidation plan, which came with a guarantee of job security,” he Boyer said.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
