Today at 11am, about 1 1/2 hours from now Chrysler could be on strike.
Cerebus, Chryslers new owners are balking at the contract terms. They are refusing to accept the same terms that GM got.
To me, they are sounding like babies who are not getting their way.
The company is also seeking better terms than GM received in setting up a union-run, health care trust for retirees.Chrysler, which has 78,000 retirees and surviving spouses, wants a lower level of funding than the 70 percent contribution that GM agreed to in creating a voluntary employees' beneficiary association, or VEBA, for its retirees.
If it cannot get more favorable terms, Chrysler has told the union it will forgo a VEBA and continue paying for retiree health care, according to people familiar with the automaker's strategy.(emphasis mine)
GM is paying 70 cents on the dollar for the retiree health care fund. Chrysler wants to pay even less than that, I think I heard they only want to pay 50 cents on the dollar.
Chrysler is balking at job security provisions that GM gave the UAW in its tentative contract, according to people close to the talks. Specifically, Chrysler is refusing to promise future products for its U.S. plants because the newly private automaker wants flexibility to downsize U.S. operations and expand internationally.
The job security they are talking about is promising new products for U.S. plants in the future. Chrysler does not want to promise new products for U.S. plants because there plan is to close all U.S. plants and make the vehicles in China.
You think we lost a lot of manufacturing jobs now, just wait until Chrysler because a chinese manufacturer. It could potentially throw the U.S. into a recession with all the jobs that would be lost.
As I stated before, Chrsyler will no longer exist as we know it in 5 years. This really is a fight for life for the UAW workers.
Posted by Quality Weenie at October 10, 2007 09:27 AM | TrackBackOh, man; I've been dreading the news that Chrysler is going to be made in China/be dismantled, etc...
My dad must be spinning in his grave... He wasn't a UAW worker. He was a Chrysler mechanic. He studied to become one and though he worked on any and everything, he specialized in Chrysler products. People came from hundreds of miles away to have him work on their vehicles, even city and county units.
Needless to say, we drove Chryslers. So this news sucks.
Much luck and prayers go out to the UAW workers.
Posted by: pam at October 10, 2007 09:55 AM