news Union says Chrysler Canada demands "not feasible"

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Union says Chrysler Canada demands "not feasible"



2 hours, 45 minutes ago





By John McCrank


TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian Auto Workers said on Monday it would not agree to cut its members' wages and benefits by the C$19 ($15.30) an hour that automaker Chrysler wants, refusing to bow to mounting pressure as concession talks resumed.

Speaking 10 days ahead of a deadline from the Canadian and U.S. governments for Chrysler to present an acceptable restructuring plan to qualify for billions of dollars in government aid, CAW President Ken Lewenza said it was wrong to set a figure ahead of the talks.

"You can't come out and say C$19 an hour is it. That's not bargaining," he told reporters. "That's just not feasible. We are not dealing with a unilateral number."

Labor costs include wages, payroll taxes, benefits, retiree costs, and a host of other items, and the union is at odds with the company and the Canadian government on how deep the cuts should be.

Chrysler says the CAW's refusal to eliminate what it says is a C$19 an hour cost disadvantage with Toyota Motor Co "jeopardizes the future of Chrysler and our operations in Canada." The union insists that is not the case.

Monday's resumption of talks follows a gap of a couple of weeks that the CAW said aimed to give Chrysler time to focus on its proposed alliance with Italy's Fiat SpA .

A spokeswoman for Chrysler, which employs around 9,400 people in Canada, including some 8,000 CAW members, said the company looked forward to the resumption of talks, but had no other comment.

Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement told reporters that he had told both the CAW and Chrysler that the government needed to know this week where the talks were going.

"People are not interested in a union protecting its entitlements that have been garnered over a period of time," he said in Ottawa. "I feel badly for workers who are put in these situations of course, but at the same time, the alternative is no job at all."

The CAW aims to focus on keeping Chrysler wages in Canada competitive with those in unionized plants in the United States and it says that goal will be met if Chrysler to accept a concession package like that already agreed with General Motors. GM and Chrysler are both asking for government aid to cope with a slump in auto sales.

Both Chrysler and Ford , which has not asked for government aid, say deals patterned on the CAW-GM agreement would not bring costs down enough for them.

Chrysler is currently surviving on C$1 billion in short-term loans from Ottawa and $4 billion from Washington.

It has requested an additional C$3 billion in Canada and could be eligible for at least $6 billion in extra U.S. funding if the governments approve its restructuring plan.

($1=$1.24 Canadian)

(Reporting by John McCrank, additional reporting by Randall Palmer in Ottawa; editing by Janet Guttsman)

[TD52]

what ppl do not know is that is a person gets $19 a hr it costs the company $38 a hr..and it costs the union loss of $1.50 a hr per person
unions have drive the costs so far up that no one can buy a new vehicle because since 1972 you could by a car fully loaded..( hight end card ) at $3600.00
now the same car in size only with a small eng costs over $20,000 and get the same millage and produce the same emissions.but instead of carbon..it puts out surfer and we have acid rain and kills wild life and plants and kills fish an river and lakes
so if they get a cut back and the staff gets a cutback...they will see prices go down and they still have a job...so they will make the same money as before...and there taxes will go down...and have what they want or need same as always
they do not understand that company's will cut ppl ...they are not going to lose money..they do not care if you have a job or not...it is there call to take a cut
the government will make sure that he CEO's and there staff will not get a golden parachute or profit sharing or bonuses..or there money will be cut off...and then they go out of business or go some place to get them built cheaper