From: "Charles Brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 13:29:33 -0500
DaimlerChrysler to ax 26,000 workers
Detroit's Mound Road plant among 6 to be closed. Jefferson North to lose
1,000 jobs.
By Daniel Howes and Mark Truby / The Detroit News
AUBURN HILLS -- DaimlerChrysler AG's troubled Chrysler Group said today
that it will eliminate 26,000 jobs -- 20 percent of its workforce -- and
shutter six plants over the next two years.
The targeted plants include Detroit's Mound Road engine plant, whose
production will be transferred to the Mack Avenue plants in Detroit next
year and then closed. One shift -- about 1,000 jobs -- will be eliminated at
Detroit's Jefferson North plant, home to the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
The Auburn Hills-based Chrysler also said it will eliminate one shift at
Windsor's Pillette Road large-van plant, halt a $1 billion renovation there
and reduce assembly speed at the nearby Windsor minivan plant. Chrysler
executives pushed for eliminating a third shift at the Windsor minivan
plant, but Canadian Auto Workers bargainers signalled their intent to
forcefully oppose such a move.
Chrysler will close engine and transmission plants in Toluca, Mexico, as
well as its Cordoba assembly plant in Argentina. The Campo Largo assembly
plant in Brazil will be idled and evaluated for closure, and production in
the Lago Alberto plant in Mexico City will be shifted to Chrysler's
Saltillo, Mexico, assembly plant.
Shifts also will be eliminated at the Bramalea car plant in Brampton,
Ontario, the Belvidere, Ill., Neon plant, the aging Toledo II Jeep assembly
plant and the Newark, Del., sport- utility vehicle plant. Generally
speaking, officials said, one shift equals 1,000 jobs.
"Today this is our turning point," President Dieter Zetsche said today.
"Today's actions will help remove the uncertainty many of our employees have
been feeling. Going through this reduction of our workforce is the most
serious part of our restructuring effort. But we can look up from this
point."
The steps are part of Zetsche's broad restructuring of the troubled
automaker, which posted a $512 million third-quarter loss last year and is
expected to lose another $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter. Already,
Chrysler has demanded 15-percent price reductions from suppliers over three
years.
The cuts to Chrysler's 128,000-person workforce would eliminate 1,800
contract employees, 19,000 of the automaker's 94,000 hourly jobs and 5,000
of its 34,000 salaried jobs. The job reductions would come through
attrition, early retirements and, if necessary, forced layoffs. Officials
estimate that half of the cuts likely would come voluntarily.
Chrysler officials say 28,260 employees in the United States and Canada
are eligible to retire and estimate that half of the job cuts could come
from voluntary programs. UAW members at affected operations in Michigan, for
example, would receive supplemental unemployment benefits for 42 weeks --
essentially 95 percent of their take-home pay -- followed by weekly
straight-time pay and benefits until their contract expires in September
2003.
The plant actions come despite so-called "plant-closing moratoriums" in
Chrysler's four-year contract with the United Auto Workers and its
three-year deal with the CAW. By idling a plant, Chrysler can close the
operation and then pay the union workforce for the remaining months on the
existing contract.
Union leaders officially opposed any moves by Chrysler to shutter plants,
which effectively would appear to violate the hard-won plant-closing
moratorium. But union leaders also appear to have understood the depth of
Chrysler's troubles and were preparing themselves for deep cutbacks to
restore the automaker to profitability.
The plant-closing moratorium in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler national contract
obliges the automaker to discuss any desired exemption from the moratorium.
Among the conditions that "it is understood ... may arise," according to
page 178 of the contract, is a "significant economic decline."
"Everything you're hearing about today was in the framework of our
existing contracts with our unions," said Gary Henson, Chrysler's top
manufacturing executive.
Company executives worked throughout the weekend to craft the final
details of the manufacturing restructuring, which will be a cornerstone of
Zetsche's unfolding turnaround plan. The complete restructuring also is
likely to include a substantial charge against earnings and
vehicle-development pacts with partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
Chrysler's parent, German automaker DaimlerChrysler, is expected to
outline the broad restructuring on Feb. 26 in Stuttgart, three days after
the plan is presented to the company's governing supervisory board.
_______________________________________________
Leninist-International mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To change your options or unsubscribe go to:
http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
_________________________________________________
KOMINFORM
P.O. Box 66
00841 Helsinki
Phone +358-40-7177941
Fax +358-9-7591081
http://www.kominf.pp.fi
General class struggle news:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Geopolitical news:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
__________________________________________________
