Employees of Chrysler Group LLC could be forgiven for being wary of their new Italian bosses. Detroit's No. 3 carmaker has been under European rule before -- but the culture clash was too great, and the merger that created DaimlerChrysler AG ended badly.
Members of the Canadian Auto Workers voted overwhelmingly this weekend in favor of a new agreement with Ford Motor Co. even as their counterparts in the United States voted down changes to their own contract with the Dearborn automaker.
Workers at Ford Motor Co. have overwhelmingly rejected an agreement negotiated between the company and the United Auto Workers last month, creating a new challenge for the Dearborn automaker and raising serious questions about the future of labor relations in the troubled industry.
Automakers and suppliers invested heavily on research last year, more than companies in most other industries despite a terrible downturn that gathered pace in the second half of 2008.
Members of the Canadian Auto Workers voted overwhelmingly this weekend in favor of a new agreement with Ford Motor Co. even as their counterparts in the United States voted down changes to their own contract with the Dearborn automaker.
Enough plants now have rejected the deal to make it virtually impossible for the agreement to win enough votes for approval. Meanwhile, the Canadian Auto Workers announced a tentative agreement Friday with Ford that matches concessions union members gave to GM and Chrysler.
Chrysler Group LLC is again offering factory workers buyouts or early retirement as the automaker continues to restructure to cut costs. Chrysler confirmed Friday that the offers went out this week to 23,000 workers.
General Motors Co. CEO Fritz Henderson told Michigan congressional members that the automaker is willing to re-examine decisions to close a limited number of profitable dealers because of poor scores on other criteria.
