Chrysler Stays Flexible on Products and Plants
October 16, 2007

Some Chrysler workers are not thrilled with the tentative contract agreed upon last week by the automaker and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union because it lacks product and plant commitments that the General Motors’ contract includes.

"Virtually no Chrysler plant received commitments beyond the scope of their current product," a leaflet produced by a dissident union local said, according to Bloomberg News. "As a result, the plant-by-plant threats we've experienced...will continue."

Indeed, Chrysler, in dire need of a product makeover, clearly is keeping its options open. But that's not sitting well with some workers; others figure the commitments and contract they've got are the best they can do.

Chrysler, according to the UAW's summary of the tentative agreement released Monday, has committed to keeping all but five facilities open, including six UAW assembly plants, and has revealed more than $15 billion in potential U.S. investments it may make.

Chrysler, in February, announced it would close its Delaware assembly plant that makes Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen. It already has said the Detroit Axle plant is being replaced by a new facility in neighboring Marysville, Michigan.

The UAW’s summary of the agreement contract indicates two Detroit-area facilities could close before the four-year contract expires. They include the Conner Avenue Assembly in Detroit, that makes the Dodge Viper and employs 350 workers, who will lobby for a new product, and the Sterling Heights, Michigan, Vehicle Test Center. The future of a Fontana, California, parts center also is in doubt.

According to the UAW’s summary of the tentative contract, here’s what Chrysler plants will produce and for how long:

Assembly plants

Belvidere, Illinois: Dodge Caliber, Jeep Patriot, Jeep Compass through life of agreement and product life cycle.

Conner Avenue Assembly, Detroit: Dodge Viper through product life cycle.

Newark, Delaware: Dodge Durango, Chrysler Aspen through product life cycle. Chrysler announced closure in February, but UAW will lobby for new product.

Sterling Heights, Michigan: Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger through product life cycle.

St. Louis South: Chrysler Town and Country, Dodge Caravan through product life cycle. Volume dependent. New product sought.

St. Louis North: Dodge Ram through life cycle. New model launched in 2008.

Parts plants

Detroit Axle: Axle production though life of product or agreement. Facility to close or be replaced by new Marysville, Michigan, plant with workers transferred.

Indiana Transmission plants, Kokomo, Indiana: RWD transmission through current cycle or contract life. No future product named.

Mack (Detroit) Engine Plants: 4.7-liter V8, 3.7-liter V6 through product life cycle.

Sterling Heights, Michigan, Twinsburg, Ohio, and Warren, Michigan, stamping plants: Current stamping product through product life cycle unless product goes to another stamping plant.

Temporary Workers Still Temps

Chrysler also appears to be keeping its options open in terms of the size of its labor force. Some UAW members are upset that the new contract fails to move current temporary workers into permanent jobs; GM’s contract shifted 3,000 from temporary to permanent status. Some Chrysler plants have as many as a third of its workforce designated as temporary.

Other elements of the Chrysler contract include: Chrysler investing nearly $9 billion into a union-run trust to cover retiree health-care expenses and providing another $1.5 billion for retiree health-care benefits until the fund kicks in in 2010; $3,000 bonuses for signing the new contract; three lump-sum payments over the life of the contract, an amount estimated at more than $10,000 per worker; and a two-tier wage system that starts new hires at $14 an hour, half of the current starting pay, and providing no pension.

The UAW is shooting to have the Chrysler contract ratified by next week. Experts say the dissension at some locals make ratification less overwhelming than it was at GM, but ultimately it likely will be approved.

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:27 AM under Chrysler , News | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine