Growing job cuts and layoffs from The Big Three are focusing attention on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s priorities in a state that relies heavily on the automotive industry.
“Don’t worry autoworkers! Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been working to provide free birth control for everyone,” Donnie Detroit posted to X. “Does that help?”
The post came in response to a Sunday report in The Detroit News that details how “morale is horrible” at Stellantis’ Detroit and Toledo facilities, where more than 3,750 full-time factory workers are out of a job, or will be soon.
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That report followed an announcement two days prior that GM will lay off another 1,000 workers, including 507 salaried and hourly employees at its Global Tech Center in Warren. That brings the total layoffs at GM to 2,000 since August, when 600 were let go from the tech center amid evolving plans from The Big Three to delay vehicle launches, shut down factories and cut back on staff.
In October, Ford idled its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, putting about 800 out of work until Jan. 6, a move that followed a decision to cut production of the F-150 Lightning produced there by 50% in early 2024. Ford also scrapped plans for an EV manufacturing hub in Oakville, Ontario, in August to focus instead on profitable gas-powered Super Duty trucks.
It all amounts to “an unmistakable sign the auto industry is slowing,” Patrick Anderson, CEO of Anderson Economic Group, told Bridge Michigan. “And that consumers are expressing some reluctance about buying the higher-priced cars, notably electric cars.
“Manufacturers are cutting back on their costs in anticipation of a further slowdown, or even a recession,” he said.
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“The morale is horrible,” UAW Local 140 President Eric Graham, who represents workers at Stellantis’ Warren Truck Assembly Plant, told The News. “Not only are people laid off, they’re having issues with unemployment.”
The unemployment issues have caused problems for laid off employees trying to secure additional payments through their union contract, which provides a year of extra pay and health coverage for up to two years.
“The biggest concern is, where will we be tomorrow?” UAW Local 869 President Romaine McKenney II said. “And that’s been a terrible burden on a lot of people.”
In Michigan, the high-profile layoffs at The Big Three have a cascading effect that precipitates further layoffs at parts suppliers, creating significant impacts to local communities.
The 3,750 Stellantis jobs lost since September “doesn’t include nearly 500 supplemental part-time workers at several Michigan plants who were terminated in late September,” according to The News. “It doesn’t include parts companies that must scale back their headcount whenever Stellantis does. Some 370 jobs are expected to be cut at a pair of Toledo Jeep plant supplies by early January, for example.”
“The incomes of the employees … have what we call a multiplier effect, which means it’s money coming from the outside of the community,” Michael Greiner, professor of management at Oakland University, told WJBK. “The difference that we have with these jobs is that if these employees get a job somewhere else, they might not be coming back to Warren. They might not be coming back to Macomb County.”
The layoffs and other strategic shifts at Ford, GM, and Stellantis are tied in large part to the government forced transition to EVs, and slower than anticipated market growth.
“In 2023, EV sales increased by over 50% from the year before,” according to The New York Times. “In the first half of this year, according to government data, they are up about 10%.”
While Whitmer has staked Michigan’s future on EVs, inking secret deals that include billions in taxpayer subsidies to prop up the industry, there’s so far little to show for it.
A Bridge Michigan analysis this past summer showed that with $1 billion spent to produce a promised 12,000 jobs, only 200 jobs had been created.
Yet throughout the layoffs and bad press, Whitmer has remained largely silent, save comments in October confirming she’s in talks with Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to keep the company’s headquarters from moving out of Michigan.
As thousands of Michiganders file into the unemployment line, fueling an unemployment rate that has increased for seven straight months, Whitmer has remained laser focused on the things that matter to her most: abortion and birth control, promoting her new book, and pursuing social media stardom.
“With Take Control of Your Birth Control, we’re expanding access to free contraceptives and family planning tools – because the decisions about your body, your health, and your future should be yours to make,” Whitmer posted to X on Friday, the last day for 507 at GM’s Global Technical Center.
With Take Control of Your Birth Control, we're expanding access to free contraceptives and family planning tools—because the decisions about your body, your health, and your future should always be yours to make.
Visit https://t.co/KRLJfUzqiQ to find these resources near you. pic.twitter.com/qSFBWAxeZq
— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) November 15, 2024
“This is all you ever talk about, meanwhile our state is dropping in every ranking!!!” X user AQST Man posted in response.
“All you do is talk about this while everything else goes to pot,” Jeff agreed.