UAW stumping for Chrysler pact
The United Auto Workers, in an unusual lobbying effort, has begun contacting local union representatives to drum up support for the tentative labor contract signed last week with Chrysler. Workers at a Chrysler engine plant in Kenosha, Wis., voted overwhelmingly Thursday to approve the tentative deal. The Kenosha vote was among the first of many locals nationwide that will cast ballots on the agreement, reached Oct. 10 after a six-hour strike. The automaker, meanwhile, is planning to offer separation and early retirement packages in November as part of an effort to cut an additional 1,000 salaried positions from its workforce by year-end. Union officials from the UAW's Solidarity House headquarters in Detroit have started telephoning representatives at Chrysler plants to urge them to back the contract in ratification votes expected to take place in the next few weeks.
See "UAW stumping for Chrysler pact", News Services, Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 18, 2007