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Read the article here:
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071205/BUSINESS02/712050443
Article published Wednesday, December 5, 2007
LIBERTY, NITRO FACTORY
Early outs sought by UAW at Jeep plant
End to 3rd shift moved up; down time added
About 750 third-shift Toledo Jeep Assembly Plant jobs will be eliminated next month because of poor sales of the Jeep Liberty and the Dodge Nitro, but United Auto Workers officials are trying to obtain retirement packages to reduce the number of workers laid off.
Chrysler LLC said it has changed to Jan. 31 its planned Feb. 11 date to stop making the two vehicles on a third shift. The factory making those sport-utility vehicles also will be shut down for an extra week in the next two months, said Dan Henneman, UAW Local 12 Jeep chairman.
"Basically, we're overbuilding," he said.
Liberty sales were down 7 percent last month and are down 32 percent for the year. The vehicle was redesigned this summer, but sales have been weak. The Nitro, which is made on the same equipment, went into production more than a year ago, but sales have been poor.
The company shuttered the factory for two weeks in October, idling 3,000 workers, as it sought to reduce the number of unsold SUVs from the plant. The factory makes about 1,200 vehicles a day.
None of the slowdowns has affected the Jeep Wrangler, which has been selling well and is made by 1,350 Chrysler and auto-supplier workers in factories next door. Until recently, the company had demand for 1,000 or more vehicles a day, more than the 580 made daily at the factories.
The automaker said a month ago it would end the third shift in the Liberty and Nitro factories, but this week changed the cutoff date and said it would halt production of those cars for three weeks during and after Christmas instead of the usual two weeks.
Mr. Henneman said the union has reached an agreement with Chrysler to offer retirement packages to higher-seniority workers. He didn't provide details. Of the 750 workers to be affected, 450 will be asked to accept the early buyout, he said. The other 300 are temporary employees who normally work Mondays and Fridays, he added.
Read the article here:
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071205/BUSINESS02/712050443
Article published Wednesday, December 5, 2007
LIBERTY, NITRO FACTORY
Early outs sought by UAW at Jeep plant
End to 3rd shift moved up; down time added
About 750 third-shift Toledo Jeep Assembly Plant jobs will be eliminated next month because of poor sales of the Jeep Liberty and the Dodge Nitro, but United Auto Workers officials are trying to obtain retirement packages to reduce the number of workers laid off.
Chrysler LLC said it has changed to Jan. 31 its planned Feb. 11 date to stop making the two vehicles on a third shift. The factory making those sport-utility vehicles also will be shut down for an extra week in the next two months, said Dan Henneman, UAW Local 12 Jeep chairman.
"Basically, we're overbuilding," he said.
Liberty sales were down 7 percent last month and are down 32 percent for the year. The vehicle was redesigned this summer, but sales have been weak. The Nitro, which is made on the same equipment, went into production more than a year ago, but sales have been poor.
The company shuttered the factory for two weeks in October, idling 3,000 workers, as it sought to reduce the number of unsold SUVs from the plant. The factory makes about 1,200 vehicles a day.
None of the slowdowns has affected the Jeep Wrangler, which has been selling well and is made by 1,350 Chrysler and auto-supplier workers in factories next door. Until recently, the company had demand for 1,000 or more vehicles a day, more than the 580 made daily at the factories.
The automaker said a month ago it would end the third shift in the Liberty and Nitro factories, but this week changed the cutoff date and said it would halt production of those cars for three weeks during and after Christmas instead of the usual two weeks.
Mr. Henneman said the union has reached an agreement with Chrysler to offer retirement packages to higher-seniority workers. He didn't provide details. Of the 750 workers to be affected, 450 will be asked to accept the early buyout, he said. The other 300 are temporary employees who normally work Mondays and Fridays, he added.
