Chrysler to cut deeper
The Auburn Hills automaker announced plans in February to eliminate 13,000 jobs over three years, including 2,000 salaried jobs. Now it intends to reduce even more white-collar positions by cutting the nonunion salaried workforce by 5% and cutting the contract workforce at Auburn Hills by 37%, said people who had been briefed on the plan but were not authorized to speak publicly about it. The move comes as the UAW has given Chrysler an 11 a.m. Wednesday deadline to reach a new labor agreement or face a nationwide strike, according to a memo sent Monday by UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and UAW Vice President General Holiefield to UAW local leaders.
Although Gettelfinger told local leaders that Chrysler had "thus far failed to make an offer that adequately addresses the needs of our membership," several industry observers said the new deadline could indicate the two sides are near a deal.
"It is meant to put the negotiations into their endgame," said Harley Shaiken, a labor expert from the University of California, Berkeley.
"A deadline like that indicates two things that are a bit contradictory: first that a deal is near. Second that there is some trouble closing it." More at Detroit Free Press