Post Tagged with: "Canadian Auto Workers Union"

Scoopful of Chrysler News – April 25, 2009: Signs of life; ticking clock; debt reduction; Fiat magic; No love from Hyundai

April 25, 2009 at 12:34 am

(Source: CNN; TreeHugger; Jalopnik ; Autoblog ; AutoblogGreen)

Chrysler reaches key Canada labor accord Tentative agreement, aimed at cutting costs and keeping automaker out of bankruptcy, to be presented to workers for ratification.

 Time running out on Chrysler  The embattled automaker has one week to reach deals with Fiat, unions and banks, raising doubts it can avoid bankruptcy and a shutdown. 

Chrysler lenders will cut debt – source  The automaker’s first-lien lenders will reduce remaining debt to $3.75 billion from nearly $7 billion. 
Fiat Working on Advanced Hybrid Drivetrain for Small Cars…Technology with Chrysler According to an article in an Italian magazine (via our friends at ABG), Fiat is working on a hybrid drivetrain that could be fitted to its small cars, like the Fiat 500. But even more interesting for us North-Americans, Fiat would apparently be willing to share that hybrid technology with Chrysler, if the deal between t…

Fox Car Report Live: Ford Fiesta, Chrysler Bankruptcy [Official Car Pundit Drinking Game] …imaginary Chryslers on conservative cable channel website. [Fox Car Report Live]

PSA: In case you were wondering, Hyundai apparently has no interest in taking a stake in a bankrupt GM…Motors and Chrysler called off negotiations regarding a possible merger, news began circulating across the internet that Hyundai might be interested in snatching the Pentastar brand away from Cerberus. Those rumors were flatly denied by the Korean automaker.Now that things have gotten progressively worse for the two storied American companies, m…

Chrysler now taking orders for Peapod NEV, or so we hear …d think Chrysler wouldn’t want to limit any potential income sources these days, but what do I know about running a car company. We’ve put in a call to Peapod to see what the deal is and will let you know if we hear anything. For now, we can remind anyone who’s interested in plunking down $12,500 or so that the Peapod is a zero tailpipe emission…
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Signs of life! Chrysler reaches key Canada labor accord

April 25, 2009 at 12:09 am

(SSource: Reuters via CNN)

Tentative agreement, aimed at cutting costs and keeping automaker out of bankruptcy, to be presented to workers for ratification.

Chrysler LLC and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union reached a tentative agreement Friday on a new labor contract intended to cut costs and keep the struggling automaker from bankruptcy, the union said.

The deal, which will be put to CAW-represented workers for ratification this weekend, is one of several agreements that Chrysler needs to reach by next week to win new U.S. government aid and avoid liquidation.

“We were told by Chrysler that they still didn’t have entire deals done to avoid a bankruptcy filing. We urge all the stakeholders in the United States to make equal sacrifices,” CAW President Ken Lewenza told reporters.

Chrysler, which has been kept operating since the start of the year with $4 billion in U.S. government loans, has until the end of this month to clinch an alliance with Italy’s Fiat SpA and win concessions from its bank creditors and major unions or face a cutoff of its government funding.

“We are extremely grateful to the CAW leadership and to its hard-working members for their openness in this challenging environment to create a new strategy that will lead this company on a path to success,” Chrysler vice chairman Tom LaSorda said in a statement.

The tentative contract for Canadian autoworkers with the No. 3 U.S. automaker would leave hourly base pay intact but cut a range of benefits, including an annual Christmas bonus, and add flexibility to work rules that would make it easier for Chrysler to hire temporary workers.

Chrysler will also cut the third production shift at its Windsor, Ontario, minivan plant.

Taken together, the contract changes will save Chrysler an estimated C$240 million in annual labor costs, Lewenza said.

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