Chrysler and UAW settle buyout differences

Chrysler and UAW settle buyout differences
http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/27/news/companies/chrysler.reut/index.htm?postversion=2007022717

DETROIT (Reuters) -- Chrysler Group said on Tuesday it had agreed on terms
for buyout offers for its factory workers with its major union, including
one-time payments of $100,000 for employees with at least one year of
experience.

Chrysler, the North American unit of DaimlerChrysler (Charts), has announced
plans to cut 11,000 blue-collar jobs, including 9,000 jobs in the United
States represented by the United Auto Workers union.

Chrysler said in a statement that employees with 30 years or more of service
would be eligible for a $70,000 payment in exchange for taking early
retirement.

Younger employees will be offered the payment of up to $100,000 to leave the
payroll, the automaker said, adding that a letter outlining the terms of its
buyout offers had been sent to employees on Tuesday.

Chrysler last week detailed its buyout offers for white-collar workers and
said it planned to cut 1,000 of those positions by June.

Daimler without Chrysler may be deal target
Chrysler's had announced plans earlier this month to cut a total of 13,000
jobs or about 16 percent of its work force in a bid to return to
profitability by 2008.

The buyout packages negotiated by Chrysler with the UAW follow similar job
cut agreements that the union struck with GM (Charts) and Ford (Charts).

Taken together, the Detroit-based automakers have cut more than 80,000
factory jobs in the past year.

In a statement, the UAW said the Chrysler buyouts were being offered at
"targeted" U.S. plants beginning this month. It said that each plant would
have its own schedule for workers to determine whether they would accept the
offer.

Chrysler has said it plans to close a Delaware plant that makes its
slow-selling Durango sport utility vehicle and reduce annual production
capacity by 400,000 vehicles by eliminating shifts elsewhere.

By contrast, GM and Ford offered their UAW buyouts on a one-time basis to
all of their unionized workers.

"UAW members are once again stepping forward to make hard choices," UAW
President Ron Gettelfinger said in a statement. "Now it's up to
DaimlerChrysler to move the company forward by using the skill and
dedication of our members to deliver quality vehicles that customers want to
buy."

The Chrysler buyout offers come at a time of increased uncertainty about the
automaker's near-term outlook.

German-parent Daimler is beginning to consider offers for potential bidders
for the U.S. automaker, which lost $1.48 billion last year as sales slumped
and inventories rose.