More than 45,000 members of the United Auto Workers union went on strike against Chrysler LLC today, Oct. 10, after marathon labor talks between the union and the automaker failed to avert the industry’s second strike in the last two weeks, CNN.com reported.
The strike, which went into effect at 11 a.m. ET, affects 24 manufacturing plants and 22 other facilities, spread across 14 states, according to the website. The only facilities not subject to the strike are five assembly plants that Chrysler already had scheduled to be shut down due to excess inventory of the vehicles that they make; those plants employ another 13,500 hourly workers.
Talks between Chrysler and UAW leadership went virtually nonstop from early Tuesday morning, Oct. 9, up to the 11 a.m. deadline today, CNN.com reported; neither the UAW nor Chrysler had any immediate comment on today’s developments.
Chrysler officials have been pushing the union to grant them the same health care concessions given to GM and Ford Motor Co. last year in which the automakers saved billions by having workers pay for part of their health insurance, a source told the Associated Press this week. But officials at Chrysler have said the company’s new owner, private equity group Cerberus Capital Management, does not want to pay the cost of transferring the administration of retiree health care to the union.
The union, which recently reached an agreement with GM following a two-day strike, says it will turn its attention to Ford when it concludes its dealings with Chrysler.
