TOLEDO, Ohio — Lavinia Thornton, Roslyn Roberson and Starla Woods told WTOL 11 they are among the 341 workers at the Toledo Assembly Complex who were notified on Sunday that they had been fired.
"To wake up on a Sunday morning to get that call after you've worked Saturday night for nine-and-a-half hours, and to wake up and get that call, it's a little devastating. It's very depressing," Woods said. "You're left stuck."
It wasn't another person on the end of the phone, though. Woods said it was a robocall.
Not even a human being ... It's a computer that's telling you you're terminated," she said.
Thornton previously worked at Jeep and came back to the Toledo Assembly Complex last year. She said Sunday was her one-year anniversary of returning.
"I left a lot of jobs and came back," she said. "It was job security, so, they took my whole lifestyle."
Roberson said Stellantis offered little assistance for those who were terminated.
"They left us with one paycheck," she said. "They left us with no help with job placements, they helped us with no severance pay. Just a 'thanks for your job.'"
Thornton said workers "got about a month of insurance."
"The rest of this month," Roberson added.
Stellantis provided a statement to WTOL 11:
"As part of our normal course of business, Stellantis regularly analyzes staffing levels at our manufacturing facilities to ensure they are operating as efficiently as possible. Following an operational review, and to ensure compliance with contractual commitments, the Company is reducing the number of Supplemental Employees across much of our U.S. footprint.
Overall, the reductions at the Toledo Assembly Complex and at the Detroit Assembly Complex - Mack resulted in fewer employees being impacted than originally estimated. This action will help improve the efficiency, productivity and market competitiveness of our facilities as we implement our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan."
But that's no consolation for the former workers who are asking for help from the United Auto Workers.
"Where are the people that are above this that supposed to be working on this contract at that time?" Woods said. "Where's our help from them?"
Mike Sawaya, UAW Local 12's Jeep chairman, told WTOL 11 that 50 of the 341 affected workers will be kept on for a short period of time before also being terminated.
Sawaya said it was a company decision and is still out of union hands, but that Local 12 is in contact with the international union about the situation.