Workers union to own 55 per cent in Chrysler

29 April 2009

Chrysler LLC has struck a deal with the United Auto Workers, under which the union will own 55 per cent of the carmaker, The Wall Street Journal reported citing a summary of the agreement.

Fiat SpA "eventually" will own 35 per cent in Chrysler while the US government and the company's secured lenders will together own the remaining 10 per cent stake after the reorganisation, the report said.

Workers affiliated to the UAW will vote on the proposed agreement, which requires changes to the union's current Chrysler contract.

UAW president Ron Gettelfinger and vice president General Holiefield met the media following a meeting of the UAW Chrysler council on 27 April in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

"It got unanimous support from the delegates. So, we're really looking forward to getting out in the field and telling this story.... We would call on all the other stakeholders to do the same thing and hopefully we can get this thing concluded,'' Gettelfinger said.

"We've been though negotiations here with Chrysler, with Cerberus with Fiat with Daimler, and indirectly with the banks. It's the most difficult and challenging situation that we've found ourselves in, probably in the history of our union,'' he said, adding, ''We want to be very transparent, and make sure people know what's in there - we're very confident that they will ratify the agreement, because the alternative is bankruptcy, which we certainly don't want to be a part of."