Illinois Jeep Cherokee Factory Employees Face An Uncertain Future

Jeep announced last December plans to indefinitely idle the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, home of the Jeep Cherokee, at the end of February. That time has now come. The plant, which opened its doors in 1965, is located west of Chicago and employs 1,350 salaried and hourly workers. They all received layoff notices just before Christmas. What's next for them?

Automotive News did some digging and while there could be future plans for the facility itself, nothing is expected to happen immediately.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has met with local union officials to discuss the situation but his hands are tied. What he has done to possibly help these employees is his signing of an amendment to the Reimagining Electric Vehicles (REV) in Illinois Act. His signature basically expanded tax incentives for automakers to come to the state to retool existing auto manufacturing facilities for EV production.

The REV Act was first signed into law in November 2021 with the ultimate goal of having 1 million EVs on the state's roads and highways by 2030. The governor has been pushing for Jeep parent company Stellantis to turn the Belvidere plant into an EV production vehicle for at least a year but to no avail so far. Union leaders expressed confidence Pritzker's lobbying efforts would pay off prior to Stellantis' idling announcement. Unfortunately, nothing has happened. Yet.

Stellantis chief operating officer Mark Stewart said late last year that the automaker is "continuing to look at what we can do to repurpose that facility." He stressed that Belvidere is being idled, rather than closed. Unfortunately, that does not provide immediate answers for those losing their jobs in the coming days.

UAW Local 1268 President Kevin Logan told AN that the state has offered Stellantis yet another attractive incentive regarding the plant.