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The United Auto Workers union has reached a tentative labour agreement with Chrysler, ending a strike against the number three US car maker by 37,000 workers within hours of when it began.
The UAW said yesterday it was calling off the strike against Chrysler, effective immediately. The union said the tentative agreement would protect wages, pensions and healthcare for UAW-represented Chrysler workers and retirees.
Both sides said the agreement included establishing a trust fund that would take over responsibility for retiree healthcare.
That follows the pattern of a ground-breaking deal between the union and General Motors reached last month.
The deal now faces ratification by Chrysler's almost 49,000 UAW-represented workers.
Picketers outside Chrysler factories disbanded as word went out from union branches about the settlement, which came just six hours after the strike began.
"Everyone is just relieved, " said Michael Yanoulakis, a Chrysler electrician who was leaving a picket line in Sterling Heights, Michigan. "Now the membership will speak at ratification."
The UAW and Chrysler conducted their whirlwind negotiations under tight wraps and many workers said they were concerned about what concessions the union had offered up.
"What I want to know is what we got and what we had to give up."said James Mosley, 55, a Chrysler veteran of 35 years in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Chrysler said in a brief statement that it expected the deal to improve its manufacturing competitiveness.
It also said the deal was subject to review by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The surprise settlement capped a dramatic showdown between the union and newly private Chrysler under the ownership of Cerberus Capital Management.
The UAW called a strike when a marathon bargaining session failed to produce an agreement by a deadline the union had set earlier.
Meanwhile, the UAW said 66 per cent of GM workers had ratified the union's new four-year contract with the number one US car maker.
The focus now shifts to Ford's contract talks with the UAW.
- Reuters
