International Information Letter GM-Stellantis No. 28 – November 2025

From the Stellantis/GM Group Coordination in the IAC Dear colleagues, We are sending you the text of a special edition of the group newspaper “Blitz” for the German Stellantis plants. We have typed up the article especially for you because it contains explosive information and good suggestions for our cooperation, in particular the proposal for a group-wide day of action against plant closures. Such a proposal must, of course, be thoroughly discussed in every country and every plant. There will certainly be thorough discussions on this at the 3rd International Automobile Workers Conference at the end of the month in Pune (India). That is why we would like to make the information and assessments known immediately:

Stellantis plans drastic cuts in Europe:

Enough is enough – now we speak!

 

In public, Stellantis is painting a rosy picture: sales and revenue are on the rise again. However, BLITZ has learned that behind closed doors, plans are being made and discussions held about which plants are to be closed. The plants in Rüsselsheim and Eisenach in Germany, Termoli and Melfi in Italy, Poissy near Paris, Madrid, and Glivice in Poland are under consideration. Further evidence supports this assessment: there is no successor model in sight for the Pilot Rüsselsheim.

Opel CEO Huettl complains that the production of electric cars in Germany is too expensive.

 

 At the same time, Stellantis is investing $13 billion in new combustion engine plants in the US. Behind our backs, they are discussing the livelihoods of tens of thousands of colleagues, families, and entire regions—and we are supposed to just stand by and watch? That is unacceptable!

“Shouldn't we wait until something concrete has been decided?” No! One lesson learned from the independent strike by Opel workers in Bochum in 2004 is that we don't wait until the plans are announced – we make our demands and move forward! The strike resulted in car production continuing for ten years and the spare parts warehouse still existing today. The board is deeply unsettled. Its secrecy shows its fear of our resistance. In France, mass protests have brought down five governments and swept the anti-worker pension reform off the table. IG Metall and Verdi are announcing widespread protests against Merz and Klingbeil's “autumn of cruelty.” Many workforces are now faced with the decision to go on the offensive. That is our trump card! VW, Ford, Bosch: Not a day goes by without new horror stories of job losses and plant closures! Increasingly brutal exploitation of people and nature, fascist oppression, war: this is the apparent way out of the capitalist crisis chaos. What is needed is a fundamentally different direction in the struggle for a future worth living! This includes the discussion of a socialist alternative.

We need clarity and conviction for our fight.

They want to lead us down countless wrong paths to deter us from the fight:

Wrong path 1: Back to combustion engine technology? That is a crime against Mother Earth; the environmental catastrophe has long since begun. It is pure desperation on the part of European car companies, which have fallen far behind their counterparts in China and the US. Whether combustion engines or electric cars: people have less and less money to buy cars!

Wrong turn 2: Hoping that your own factory will not be affected? To achieve this, further sacrifices must be made. Our strength lies in not allowing ourselves to be divided, but in going on the offensive for our workers' interests across companies and countries.

Mistake 3: Hoping for high severance payments and individual solutions? That is short-sighted: the money will eventually run out, but jobs will be destroyed and the region ruined. Stuttgart is already being talked about as the new Detroit. Our young people need a future!

Mistake 4: Hoping for a switch to arms production? Where will the arms race lead? In reality, preparations for war are about raw materials and sales markets. That cannot be the future for our youth. We must take action against the populist and nationalist mindset propagated by the fascists of the AfD. The boundaries do not run between countries and locations, but between the top and the bottom! The 3rd International Automobile Workers' Conference also stands for this path. Colleagues from 20 countries are participating, including colleagues from Rüsselsheim, Eisenach, and Bochum. This is an opportunity to promote coordination of workers' struggles in the automotive industry.

The special situation calls for special measures! We must set out our demands and organize ourselves better: in IG Metall, but also independently in our plants: No plant closures! Fight for every job and training place! Take on temporary and agency workers! 30-hour week with full wage compensation as a group agreement! Let's demand and take the right to strike! In the event of repression: one for all – all for one!

When the assembly lines are at a standstill, we can put the most effective pressure on the board. A year ago, VW had already decided to close Emden. But the struggle of our VW colleagues brought those plans to an end. Let us take the next step and call for a Europe-wide day of strike action: together we are a superior force!

 

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