UAW Sets Chrysler Strike Deadline
Pressure Mounts For New Contract On Wages, Benefits
Chrysler already has plans to shut down some assembly plants because of weak consumer demand, so the potential effects of a strike remain unclear.
(By Adalyn Ruggiero -- Associated Press)
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Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The United Auto Workers turned up the pressure on Chrysler yesterday to wrap up a contract in the next two days.
The union set a deadline of 11 a.m. tomorrow for a strike against the smallest of the three Detroit automakers if the two sides have not reached a new labor contract for the company's 45,000 workers represented by the union. The UAW sent a notice to local union officials yesterday saying Chrysler has so far failed to make an offer that "adequately addresses" wages, benefits and other issues.
Chrysler spokeswoman Michele Tinson said, however, that the deadline does not mean a strike is imminent. She said the UAW could still decide to extend talks past the deadline.
The UAW's leadership could not be reached for comment.
Negotiations resumed yesterday after lengthy sessions over the weekend.
UAW officials stepped up talks with Chrysler late last week, several days after reaching a landmark deal with General Motors. The GM agreement, reached after a two-day strike by autoworkers, was expected to serve as a template for the UAW negotiations with Chrysler and Ford.
Chrysler had been seen as a wild card in this year's negotiations. The company was sold by Germany's Daimler AG this year to a U.S. private-equity group led by Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus leaders have said they want to restore Chrysler as an American business icon, but labor leaders and autoworkers are wary.
"There probably is a political and psychological subtext to the Chrysler negotiations," said David L. Gregory, a labor law professor at St. John's University. "Workers are understandably apprehensive about who is running the show and do they have a long-term commitment to running the company."
Gregory added: "Or will Cerberus do what most private-equity groups do -- look to maximize profit by identifying and selling off the most profitable parts of the enterprise?"
The last UAW strike at Chrysler occurred in 1985; it lasted eight days and cost the company nearly $100 million. Chrysler workers won improved wages and benefits, and job-security guarantees.
Analysts said it was not clear what a strike would mean for Chrysler now. The company already plans to shut down five plants in coming weeks because of weak demand.
At a union office in Belvidere, Ill., where Chrysler has a plant that produces the Dodge Caliber and the Jeep Compass and Patriot, workers were preparing unemployment paperwork and making plans for a possible strike.
