{"id":9862,"date":"2026-05-08T15:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T15:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/9862\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T15:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T15:22:14","slug":"united-auto-workers-prepares-for-launch-agreement-to-jumpstart-production-at-belvidere-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/9862\/","title":{"rendered":"United Auto Workers prepares for launch agreement to jumpstart production at Belvidere Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"

BELVIDERE, Ill. (WIFR) – Displays meant to showcase the Belvidere Assembly\u2019s products sit empty. The rusty ramps surround a silver logo for Stellantis, which produces cars like Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Fiat.<\/p>\n

But the plant has sat empty since February 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been an easy road,\u201d said Matt Frantzen. The United Auto Workers Local 1268 president mentioned his hope for reopening hasn\u2019t yet hit the road.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Belvidere Assembly Plant on May 5, 2026.(WIFR)<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait for the day that we\u2019re running those cars off the end of the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stellantis and UAW representatives toured the idled facility April 30. Frantzen shared in a social media post<\/a> the following day an update on conditions inside: \u201cThe team was impressed with the condition of the plant, but also had some concerns in areas such as the paint shop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe meetings we had last week and even the meetings we have later this week, it\u2019s trending in the right direction,\u201d the local president told WIFR. \u201cA few robots and a couple of alterations, we could be back up and running.\u201d<\/p>\n

The union and automaker will meet again starting May 6. Frantzen says the focus will be a launch agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a small step in the direction that we need to end up in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Frantzen describes the agreement as defining terms not mentioned in the contract with Stellantis from 2023. Ahead of expected production on the Jeep Compass and Jeep Cherokee, a launch deal could define a \u201claunch team,\u201d their responsibilities, reopening logistics and other matters like overtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou definitely need it to basically outline a start to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

The local president identified his priorities ahead of the Stellantis meeting: a timeline.<\/p>\n

In October 2025<\/a>, the automaker announced a $600 million investment for Belvidere. It claimed production would launch in 2027, creating about 3,300 jobs.<\/p>\n

Frantzen asserts the first Jeep Compass may not leave the assembly line until June 2028 \u2014 a month after the Stellantis-UAW contract ends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not concerned about that at all,\u201d clarified Frantzen. \u2018We\u2019ll be back in there as long as there\u2019s no issues on lead time for different machinery that we may need.\u201d<\/p>\n

He suggested a launch agreement\u2019s timeline could show the company\u2019s faith in Belvidere. If the deal covers years from 2026 through 2030, Frantzen feels production may extend beyond the Jeep Compass.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been hearing they want to have an extended launch agreement. And with that, sounds to me like multiple vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

WIFR reached out to Stellantis for comment. In a statement, the automaker shared its October 2025<\/a> announcement and added:<\/p>\n

\u201cStellantis is looking forward to reopening the Belvidere Assembly Plant, which will create thousands of new jobs. To ensure a successful launch, the company and the UAW will negotiate a launch agreement that supplements the national contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frantzen also awaits signed dotted lines confirming investments for Belvidere.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re waiting for the final signature on the project money,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully, in the next couple weeks, that takes place. Once that happens, I think a lot of people will be able to breathe easy and relax a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The local president addressed \u201cnaysayers\u201d as well, or those doubting the plant\u2019s relaunch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to chase the naysayers, but I\u2019ll do it one last time,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ll see we\u2019ll be building these vehicles and potentially have job openings for the naysayers to even apply for.\u201d<\/p>\n

WIFR noticed a hiring event inside the assembly Tuesday. Frantzen said the company is staffing up on security as activity returns to the plant.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WIFR. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BELVIDERE, Ill. (WIFR) – Displays meant to showcase the Belvidere Assembly\u2019s products sit empty. The rusty ramps surround…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[8203,8205,8202,8206,8204,263,109,115,138,392,103,1164,1278,8207],"class_list":{"0":"post-9862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stellantis","8":"tag-autoworker","9":"tag-belvidere-assembly","10":"tag-belvidere-illinois","11":"tag-belvidere-plant","12":"tag-car-news","13":"tag-cars","14":"tag-chrysler","15":"tag-dodge","16":"tag-jeep","17":"tag-manufacturing","18":"tag-stellantis","19":"tag-uaw","20":"tag-united-auto-workers","21":"tag-when-is-the-belvidere-plant-reopening"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}