US Autoworkers Strike Deal With Chrysler

[CShine]

The United Auto Workers announced a tentative contract agreement on Monday with the Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler but said it was still in talks to strike new labor pacts with General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.

UAW President Ron Gettlefinger had been expected to announce new four-year contracts with all three of the Detroit automakers, and with auto parts suppliers Delphi Corp. and Visteon Corp. at a news conference called late Sunday night, according to one union source.

But an official at one of the Detroit-based car companies said the multilateral deal, which would have been a first of its kind in the U.S. auto industry, fell through after a much-delayed news conference was set to begin at about 10:30 p.m. EDT/0230 GMT. It was organized by the UAW's media department just before a midnight deadline for the expiration of existing contracts between the Big Three and the union.

"Something happened at the last minute," the official told Reuters, adding that "everyone was supposedly set to sign off on this."


http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=3442039