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Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Chrysler is facing a national strike in America after 49,000 workers walked out in a dispute over job security and healthcare funding.
It’s the second time in as many weeks that United Auto Workers - a trade union that represents the employees of Detroit’s big three - has used its ultimate punitive measure and called for a national strike. The first saw 73,000 General Motors workers down tools for two days, after which a new agreement was reached.
Negotiations between UAW and Chrysler were said to have stalled after bosses met to discuss tentative new contracts. By this morning, Chrysler workers had formed picket lines outside their factories, but as yet there has been no official statement from either side as to when talks will resume.
Although production will fall behind by about 3000 models per day, industry analysts reckon that Chrysler can withstand a strike in the short term. The company has 60 days’ supply of most models and may even benefit from reducing this bloated backlog of unsold cars.
Will Powell
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