The United Auto Workers union reached a tentative four-year contract with Chrysler on Wednesday, hours after going on strike and the same day General Motors workers ratified a separate four-year pact.
Next up: Ford.
Key elements: Some guarantees that vehicles will be produced at U.S. factories, a company funded, union-run trust that will pay much of Chrysler’s $18 billion in long-term retiree health-care costs and a lower wage scale for some newly hired workers.
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said the strike against Chrysler, which is 80.1 percent owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, would end immediately and workers should report for their next available shift.
“This agreement was made possible because UAW workers made it clear to Chrysler that we needed an agreement that rewards the contributions they have made to the success of this company,” Gettelfinger said in a statement.
Gettelfinger wouldn’t release details of the contract, but Chrysler said the tentative agreement includes the retiree health-care trust. The newly private company didn’t say how much money it will contribute to the trust.
“The national agreement is consistent with the economic pattern and balances the needs of our employees and company by providing a framework to improve our long-term manufacturing competitiveness,” Chrysler Vice President and Chairman Tom LaSorda said in a statement.
Chrysler’s national UAW contract covers about 45,000 workers and 78,000 retirees and spouses.
The UAW said its historic contract with GM, which also includes a retiree health-care trust, was approved by 66 percent of production workers and 64 percent of skilled trades workers.
The deal, reached Sept. 26 after a two-day nationwide strike, establishes lower pay for some workers and makes promises for future work at U.S. plants.
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