Autoblog

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]