DEARBORN — According to sources involved with the negotiations, the most recent contract proposal from carmaker Stellantis to the United Auto Workers union may result in the closure of 18 plants in the United States, but it may also bring in fresh investments and repurpose an Illinois vehicle assembly factory that has been idled.

The proposals, which business and union leaders were at conflict over, would probably have an impact on thousands of UAW members, reduce the automaker’s presence in North America, and develop a new “modernized” components and distribution network.

Employees at the FCA US Conner Avenue assembly factory in Detroit, Michigan, work on a Dodge Viper on the assembly line. (Image courtesy of Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

According to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the negotiations are ongoing and private, a key component of the plan is the potential closure of ten “Mopar” parts and distribution centers that are dispersed across the nation. Instead, they would be combined into larger “Amazon-like” distribution centers. The plan called for a possible “Mega Hub” to be built at Belvidere Assembly, which the carmaker shut down indefinitely in February.

According to three sources, the proposal also mentions the idled Belvidere Assembly, the partially decommissioned Trenton Engine Complex, the Indiana Tipton Transmission Plant, and the Michigan Mount Elliott Tool & Die. The automaker’s North American headquarters and technology center, located on a sizable 500-acre complex in metro Detroit that was originally Chrysler’s global headquarters, were also included.

The last part of the offer, which concerns its North American headquarters, comes as businesses try to realign their physical footprints in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and adapt to remote or hybrid work.

Stellantis stated its intention to have the bulk of its paid staff—including the then-17,000 workers in North America—work remotely the majority of the time in 2021. Following the implementation of those strategies, the business acknowledged that it was “examining how we operate to allow our staff to be their most inventive, creative, and effective. Our real estate portfolio may need to be adjusted as a result of that examination. Stellantis stated that the building will “continue to be our North American headquarters and North America technical center.”

Continuing the story

Although it’s not certain that the plants will close as part of a labor agreement, a corporate source said Stellantis is expected to take into account any prospective closures or sales of any locations where UAW members are employed. The corporation could be able to lease a piece of the headquarters facility, according to a 2022 article in The Detroit Free Press.

The union, which began targeted strikes against the Detroit automakers when contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, was presented with a plan by Stellantis on Thursday night that included the 18 potential closures. Stellantis and the UAW resumed their negotiations early on Monday.

According to two of the people, Stellantis also included its Arizona proving grounds in the bid but stated that operations would continue with any transaction.

Belvidere gathering

One of the main issues between the carmaker and the union, which is now on the fourth day of planned strikes at three significant assembly sites, is the Belvidere, Illinois facility.The union has threatened future work stoppages, depending on how discussions proceed, but is only striking one factory at each of Stellantis, General Motors, and Ford Motor.

Although the reopening of the Illinois facility would be a huge victory for UAW officials, they are worried about jobs, relocating families and employees, compensation, and automation, according to two of the individuals.

They expressed concern that the number of union members employed by future facilities may be lower than that of the assembly plants and present components and distribution operations. Jobs at Mopar are also less lucrative than those at conventional assembly plants like Belvidere, which until its shutdown in February produced Jeep Cherokee SUVs.

The most recent offer Stellantis made to the union on Thursday night included the prospective closures. According to two sources, there have been various discussions about the facility, including the components proposal for Belvidere, and the offer may change as a result of these discussions.

According to two individuals, there have also been discussions of repurposing a portion of Belvidere, a nearly 5 million-square-foot plant, for electric car battery components.

The firm has to “modernize” the Mopar plants, according to Mark Stewart, Chief Operating Officer of Stellantis North America, who is in charge of the UAW negotiations. He stated the measures will not have an impact on employment but did not go into specifics.

During a Saturday media roundtable, Stewart stated, “We need to make investments into Mopar.” Making those investments in the area they are in “in many cases doesn’t make sense.”

Without going into specifics, Stewart called the company’s bid for Belvidere a “very compelling offer.” But he said that it was dependent on the union approving a provisional agreement prior to a strike.

He explained on Saturday that “we will have to revisit all of those items, but there was a very compelling solution for that, which was rejected.”

In addition to additional incentives and perks, Stellantis’ most recent proposal to the UAW contained raises of roughly 21% over the duration of the contract, including an immediate 10% pay rise, and would remove wage tiers for some workers. The proposal’s benefits are comparable to those in recent proposals from GM and Ford.

Rich Boyer, vice president of the UAW, has said categorically that the Belvidere factory is a make-or-break situation. At a rally with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, on Friday, he even urged the crowd to yell “bulls***” in response to the concessions made by the Detroit automakers.

“This is about the working class, and I want the entire world to know it. Boyer, who oversees Stellantis talks, addressed the crowd during the demonstration and said, “This is about the haves and have nots, and we’re weary of not having anything.

Mopar

According to two sources, the company’s current proposal would create new Mopar operations in Fishkill, New York, and Macon, Georgia, as well as transfer work from a number of sites in Michigan to its Trenton North factory, which is situated southwest of Detroit.

Mopar’s plants in Atlanta, Boston, Centerline Warehouse & Packaging, Chicago, Marysville, Milwaukee, New York, Orlando, Sherwood, and Warren will all be closing.

Almost a century ago, the motor and component company Mopar was created. More than 2,000 people are currently employed by Stellantis in the firm, which it claims includes 20 U.S. Mopar parts and distribution sites.

For Stellantis’ predecessor, Fiat Chrysler, which created a growth strategy for the personnel and facilities, Mopar was anticipated to be a significant growth sector. However, the locations were set up before Amazon made a significant push for massive distribution centers, which has altered how many of them conduct business.

The abolition of pay scales within the Mopar division is another aspect of Stellantis’ plan.The hourly compensation for such workers presently ranges from roughly $17 to more than $30.The four-year agreement is also accompanied by a ban on selling or spinning off the Mopar business.

We’re attempting to come up with original answers for each of those and are taking it seriously and responsibly. We have heard and will keep listening. We are still engaging in sincere negotiations, Stewart added. “It really is a win-win situation. It’s not about fighting, you know.”

The original version of this item appeared on NBCNews.com.

AP — RENO, Nevada The National Championship Air Races in northern Nevada’s last day were cut short when two pilots perished when their vintage aircraft crashed in front of tens of thousands of spectators.

Nick Macy of Tulelake, California, and Chris Rushing of Thousand Oaks, California both passed away after racing against one another in T-6 Texans, which were used to teach pilots throughout World War II and far into the 1970s. It was at least the third fatal crash there since 2011, and the second year in a row that a pilot perished at the event. Crash rates on the course, though, are generally low.

Here are some recent instances of vintage aircraft tragic crashes in the United States and other countries:

— On July 29, 2023, two accidents involving an aircraft conference in Wisconsin resulted in the deaths of four persons. The T-6 Texan carrying Devyn Reiley, the daughter of two-time Super Bowl champion Bruce Collie, and a 20-year-old passenger crashed into Lake Winnebago on July 29. Later that day, two people were killed and two others were wounded when a helicopter and a gyrocopter collided in the air over a runway at the conference.

— On November 12, 2022, a P-63 Kingcobra fighter jet and a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber collided during a Dallas air show, resulting in the deaths of all six occupants of the two antique aircraft.

— September 19, 2022: At the Reno Air Races, pilot Aaron Hogue’s plane seemed to be having issues before it crashed and caught fire. In the T-6 gold competition on the last day of the 2022 championship—the same race where the September 2023 collision took place—the accident happened.

— On October 2, 2019, a touring historic aircraft exhibition was taking place at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut when a four-engine, propeller-driven B-17G Flying Fortress bomber with 13 passengers aboard crashed. There were six injuries and seven fatalities. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that pilot mistake was the most likely culprit, with poor maintenance playing a role.

— November 17, 2018: The pilot and a passenger were killed after a privately owned vintage World War II Mustang fighter airport jet crashed into the parking lot of an apartment complex in Fredericksburg, Texas. After flying above during a living history performance at the National Museum of the Pacific War, the P-51D Mustang was making its way back. Several cars in the parking lot also sustained damage in addition to the destruction of the airplane.

— Aug. 4, 2018: All 20 people on board were killed when a 79-year-old Junkers Ju-52 aircraft operated by the Swiss business Ju-Air crashed into the Piz Segnas mountain close to the Flims ski resort in eastern Switzerland. The German-built aircraft, which was retired from the Swiss air force in 1981, was transporting visitors who wished to enjoy “adventure flights” in historic aircraft to explore the country’s beauty. According to Swiss authorities, the pilots’ “high-risk flying” caused the tragedy.

— On May 30, 2018, a small antique plane that was traveling with five other aircraft as part of a GEICO stunt squad crashed in a residential neighborhood in Melville, New York, killing the pilot. The North American T-6 Texan, a vintage SNJ-2 airplane from World War II, had just taken off from a neighboring airstrip on its way to Maryland when it crashed.

— July 16, 2017: In Cummings, Kansas, a World War II-era P-51D Mustang “Baby Duck” crash-landed, killing the pilot and the airport manager. According to the authorities, the pilot was repeating a trick he had done the day before at the Amelia Earhart Festival.

— On January 26, 2017, when Perth, Australia, was celebrating Australia Day, a Grumman G-73 Mallard flying boat from World War II stalled and nosedived into the Swan River. The pilot and his passenger both passed away.

— Aug. 27, 2016 — During the Airshow of the Cascades in Madras, Oregon, an Alaskan pilot was killed when his 450 Stearman biplane, a vintage World War II aircraft frequently used for military training, went down.

— July 17, 2016 — The pilot of a T-28 Trojan, which was employed by the American military as a training aircraft starting in the 1950s and as a counterinsurgency aircraft during the Vietnam War, was killed when the aircraft crashed at the Cold Lake Air Show in Alberta. Numerous thousands of onlookers saw the accident.

— Aug. 22, 2015 — Near West Sussex, England, a 1950s Hawker Hunter T7 aircraft crashed, killing 11 people and injuring more than a dozen more. The pilot, who made it out alive, was reportedly flying too slowly and low to safely execute a loop-the-loop. Despite facing 11 charges of manslaughter, he was finally found not guilty.

— June 22, 2013 — While performing at the Vectren Dayton Air Show in Vandalia, Ohio, a World War II-era Boeing-Stearman IB75A biplane crashed and caught fire, killing the pilot and a wing walker. The disaster was witnessed by thousands of people, and government safety officials determined that pilot error was most likely at blame.

— Sept. 16, 2011 — At the National Championship Air Races and Air Show in Reno, Nevada, the pilot of the Galloping Ghost, a modified P-51D Mustang that was 70 years old, lost control of the plane and crashed onto spectators, killing 11 people, including the pilot, and injured more than 60 others. Federal investigators attributed the collision to speed and worn parts.

Mexico’s Tapachura (AP) — The majority of the migrants who broke into the asylum office in southern Mexico on Monday were from Haiti.

Massive groups of migrants stormed through police and National Guard personnel stationed at the office in the city of Tapachula, knocking down metal barricades in the process. In the rush, some of the refugees were crushed by their fellow travelers.

Later, after being persuaded to leave by authorities, nobody was hurt.

Asylum requests in Mexico have increased dramatically this year, totaling over 100,000, which is causing the tension.

Numerous disgruntled migrants, many of whom are from Cuba and Honduras, claim that they have frequently had to wait weeks for an appointment at the Tapachula office, which is close to the Guatemalan border.

Immigrants can submit applications for asylum in Mexico through the office, which is operated by the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid. The majority, though, want to utilize the documents to get to the U.S. border more safely and conveniently.

“It’s very complicated, there are too many people here, the Haitians get desperate, they knock over the barricades, and that only makes the process slower,” said Cuban immigrant Miguel Argoten.

Argoten said that he had been waiting to begin the asylum application procedure in Tapachula for a week. Recently, the office has been receiving roughly 2,000 requests for appointments every day.

As the migrant surge threatens to overwhelm administrations of many Latin American nations along the migration route, Mexico is on course to receive more asylum petitions this year than ever before.

The director of Mexico’s refugee agency, Andrés Ramrez Silva, said this week that his organization may receive 150,000 asylum applications this year, well exceeding the previous high of 129,000 established in 2021.

According to Ramrez Silva, “effectively, we are moving at a pace that is significantly faster than what we did in 2021, when we set a record.” He anticipated that if they keep on this pace, they would reach 150,000 by the end of the year. They have had 100,000 as of August, which is 25% higher than at the same time in 2021, with more than half near Mexico’s shared border with Guatemala.

Last week, several migrants were rowdy during the wait and tried to enter the agency’s offices, which required the deployment of National Guard officers, who struggled to maintain order.

According to Ramrez Silva, around 80% of the petitions for refuge at the Tapachula office have been submitted by Cubans, Haitians, and Hondurans. He said that to increase its capability, his organization had requested extra funding from the federal government.