Chrysler Canada and the C-A-W began talks today that could decide the automaker’s fate in Canada.
An agreement could save the company from bankruptcy or even liquidation but the two sides are far apart.
Chrysler president Tom LaSorda says it needs to cut costs by 19 dollars an hour to be competitive.
There is also a threat from Fiat that it could walk away from a potential alliance with the troubled automaker.
The C-A-W has so far refused to bend from a pattern established last month with General Motors.
President Ken Lewenza says the union is willing to help Chrysler find cost savings in other ways.
Meanwhile, speaking to Bayshore Broadcasting News at the CAW Conference in Port Elgin on Friday — CAW Economist Jim Stanford told us, savings should not be found by way of cutting “legacy costs”.
The term refers to the continuing expense for pensions and health benefits for retirees.
Stanford says it’s not right workers who created over 100 billion dollars in profit now face the loss of pensions and benefits because of a financial and industrial crisis they did not create.
Stanford says today’s retired autoworkers are the ones who provided the real economic foundation for the long-term financial success that this industry has enjoyed for several decades.
He admits there is some bitterness among today’s workers, because they are forced to give up so much, in an industry they have no control of.
The CAW plans to go into today’s negotiations and stick to the pattern established in an earlier agreement with General Motors, which cuts that company’s labour costs by about 7 dollars an hour.