As soon as we heard about DC's Project X, we knew the hits to Chrysler employees were forthcoming, but we didn't expect them to be so large and so fast. According to the Detroit News, next week Chrysler Group will announce their intentions to layoff 1,000 salaried workers, along with 10,000 hourly workers from underperforming US plants.
The salaried workers are not under union contract so their eminent dismissal will be unfettered, while reduced shifts at select factories will see the layoff of factory workers, who, unlike Ford and GM, will not be offered buyouts or early retirements. However, unionized hourly workers will receive a cash payout of $50k or more, including a voucher that will allow them to buy a Chrysler vehicle.
All this, according to the Detroit News' sources, will accompany plant closures, possibly in Newark, Delaware where pickup trucks are produced, as well as an engine plant in Detroit. Other production cuts may include shift reductions in St. Louis, Mo., the Jefferson North plant in Detroit and plants in Windsor and Brampton, Ontario.
The official announcement will supposedly take place next week, when DaimlerChrysler begins to seriously divulge the plans included in their Orwellian sounding Project X.
[Source: Detroit News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brandon @ Feb 9th 2007 10:16AM
I wonder how many of these hourly workers will actually buy a Chrysler product with the voucher. I'm not knocking the products, I currently own a Sebring, but I think the cash buyout and voucher program is a poor program for the workers.
I hope at least that there is no time limit to the voucher, or at least a 5 year limit. A lot of the hourly workers will take their "windfall" of the buyout and not use it to aide their family for a long term problem of being in a likely lower paying job.
Remember the commercial for GM's robot that was forced to work at a fast food place? That's reality for many workers in the Metro Detroit area facing layoffs. While $50k is a nice chunk of change to have at one time, taxes will eat through a section of it, followed by living expenses during dire straights.
I hope that DCX will look at rational solutions rather than giving their workers an option to pour some of their retirement buyout back into the company on an emotional response to a "good deal"
Doug R @ Feb 9th 2007 11:12AM
Well, that's great. The cost of labor is the main reason the big 3 are in this predicament (i.e. union) and the UAW workers always get the sweet deal while everyone else is out in the cold.
When they shut down the GM plant near my home, the unioners got to sit at a table for 8 hours a day, doing crosswords and collecting their normal salary for doing nothing. It was up to GM paid employees to find them a new job to their liking. This went on for almost a year!!!!!!
It was anounced not too long ago that those workers who aren't working by now will get government assistance in the form of living expenses, job education allowances, relocation compensation, etc., etc., etc. We're in the middle of the best economy and lowest unemployment in the history of this country. Do any of us in the real world (who pay the taxes for this sort of thing) ever get anything close to the perks mentioned above? No.
hondalover, how come some honda owners seem to think that their IQ level rose the instant they bought one and that they're better than everyone else. I have no idea what you were trying to say, but it's obvious you're a moron. Owning a honda hasn't done a thing for you.
SherbornSean @ Feb 9th 2007 11:44AM
Yeah, whenever I get laid off, the first thing that I think of is buying a new car, especially if I can get one from the company that just canned me.
Former DE resident @ Feb 9th 2007 3:56PM
"Newark, Delaware where pickup trucks are produced"
Correction, the plant in Newark builds the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen.
DaimlerChyrsler EmployeeUAW Member for 13 Years @ Feb 9th 2007 9:34PM
Well, you tell me who is to blame for the downfall of the Big 3?
The average corporate CEO made twenty times what the average worker did in 1968. Today, it's nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a YEAR to make the money that his or her boss makes in ONE day. Who's compensation is raising the cost of labor?
Who is to blame for the mismanagement of these companies?
The employee who comes to work every day and puts his/her body on line for $50-60 thousand a year?
Line speeds are at an all time high (70+ jobs an hour here in St. Louis), as are cases of carpal tunnel and arthritis. Not to mention back and neck strain that plagues the average auto worker.
Then the employee has his/her health care cut to shreads because this benefit is too costly for the corporation?
How about putting the blame on the supposed BRAINS behind the corporation (corporate heads, middle managers, and shareholders)!
Are they not the ones who create company policy and direction? Are they not the ones to blame for mismanagement and poor marketing? Should we not blame the finance people up in Detroit for misreading the market?
You tell me! I'm not going to be the one to blame for someone elses INCOMPETENCE. I do my job!
Shaun @ Feb 9th 2007 9:36PM
I wonder how many of these vouchers will end up on Ebay? I'd snap one up if the price was right.
mentholated @ Feb 10th 2007 3:53PM
Daimler-Chrysler employee, I sympathize with your plight. $50-60k for an assembly-line job, plus you get to blame everyone but yourself when the company goes in the tank. I have worked in manufacturing facilities for a lot less. In fact, my current white-collar job pays less, and health insurance for my family is well over $300.00 a month. I am sure it's higher in some places. No pension, either, just a 401k. When my previous employer was bought out, I didn't get a year's salary as a severance package. I found temp work until I found a new job.
Now, I'm not saying you personally are at fault, or the UAW is the lone culprit. Nobody gets up and says, "Hey, I think I'll do a bad job today." The automakers' (mis)management teams have a lot to do with it, too. Union intransigence, poor management decisions, outdated technology, and arrogance all the way around have all left their marks. The point is, all the chickens have come home to roost for the domestic makers, and the coops are looking pretty foul.