Union workers at the Dundee, Mich., engine plant of Chrysler Group LLC had rejected a plant contract. However, Chrysler is asserting that this won’t have an impact on production. Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said that engines will continue to be produced. The plant manufactures engines in different Chrysler models, which include the newly launched Dodge Dart and the Fiat 500. These are both small cars with deeper design and engineering links to Fiat S.p.A., Chrysler's majority owner, compared to other Chrysler models. Tinson said that they reached a tentative deal with the union and they expect it to be ratified. He said that what the union decides will determine what happens next. According to The Detroit News, about 73% of the workers said no to the contract. The plants represented by the UAW have their own deals that cover specific issues aside from the national four-year contract, which Chrysler workers supported last fall. Under the 2009 bankruptcy and government bailout of Chrysler, UAW-represented workers made a deal not to strike Chrysler. This is the bailout that resulted to Fiat taking management control of Chrysler. At the plant, there are 581 hourly workers and 107 salaried workers. Workers at the Dundee plant made a threat to strike last September when it wasn’t yet a part of the nationwide UAW contract talks with Chrysler. Just a couple of weeks after, they convincingly voted to join fellow Chrysler workers to negotiate a national contract with the company.
Union workers at the Dundee engine plant reject Chrysler’s contract
by Andrew Christian, Email, 20 Aug, 2012
