Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove has said that the union has met with Chrysler and has committed to look at ways to help lower the struggling automaker’s North American costs.
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Hargrove, speaking to Dow Jones on the sidelines of an industry conference, said he met with top-level Chrysler officials on 11 January to discuss a goal the company has to cut its costs by $US1,000 per vehicle in North America.
Losses of $1.5bn in the third quarter because of weakness in US operations prompted the automaker to devlope a deep restructuring plan that will be unveiled in mid-February, the news agency noted.
Hargrove reportedly said that Chrysler’s demands are not “new and surprising” and he said the CAW is looking for ways to co-operate. The union has not been asked to specifically cut its costs by $1,000 per vehicle, but instead is being asked to contribute to an overall goal.
Hargrove told Dow Jones he wasn’t convinced that cost-cutting alone will save Chrysler or its struggling US counterparts – he said the unions have been contributing to cost savings for years, and he insisted that trade imbalances are the real root of Detroit’s problems.
The report added that the ‘Big Three’ US automakers will also be seeking help from the United Auto Workers union in the US. Negotiations with the UAW on a new contract are slated to start in July, ahead of the September expiration of the current agreement, Dow Jones said.
