Workers at Chrysler’s Trenton engine plant have voted in favour of new work rules in the hope that, by agreeing to more flexible working conditions, DaimlerChrysler’s board will approve the construction a new $800m V6 engine plant adjacent to the current factory, according to the Detroit News.
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The changes include a working week of four 10-hour days, limited overtime and just two job classifications. The new rules are modeled on those agreed at the new Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance plant that opened in Dundee at the end of last year. Workers operate in teams and are moved around the plant as needed. This is in contrast to most UAW-represented plants where jobs are classified to a high degree and workers are prevented from being moved around as needed.
The agreement is a sign that the UAW is altering its stance and is prepared to consider radical changes to work practices to guarantee future jobs.
In return for the more flexible working conditions at Trenton, Chrysler’s new engine plant should come on-stream by 2011. It would be one of three sites in the country that would produce the new engine code-named Phoenix.
The new plant would employ 600 people, most of which would transfer from the existing plant, where production is likely to cease by around 2015. The existing plant currently employs 1,200 people so some would receive retirement incentives, according to the newspaper.
The plant currently produces 3.3-, 3.8- and 4.0-litre engines, which would be obsolete by 2015, and also makes a range of engine components.
The new plant will not make camshafts, rods and pistons like the current plant. Instead it would focus on cylinder blocks, cylinder heads and crankshafts, as well as engine assembly.
