Auto workers and Chrysler reach agreement on contract

DETROIT -- The United Auto Workers union reached a tentative four-year contract with Chrysler on Wednesday, hours after going out on strike and the same day General Motors workers ratified a separate four-year pact.

Next up: Ford.

UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said the strike against Chrysler LLC, 80.1 percent owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, would end immediately and workers should report for their next available shift.

"This agreement was made possible because UAW workers made it clear to Chrysler that we needed an agreement that rewards the contributions they have made to the success of this company," Gettelfinger said in a statement.

Gettelfinger wouldn't release any details of the contract, but Chrysler said the tentative agreement includes the establishment of a UAW-managed trust that will administer retiree health care. The newly private company didn't say how much money it will contribute to the trust.

"The national agreement is consistent with the economic pattern and balances the needs of our employees and company by providing a framework to improve our long-term manufacturing competitiveness," Chrysler vice chairman and president Tom LaSorda said in a statement.

The UAW said its historic contract with GM, which also includes a retiree health-care trust, was approved by 66 percent of production workers and 64 percent of skilled trades workers.

The deal, reached Sept. 26 after a two-day nationwide strike, establishes lower pay for some workers and makes promises for future work at U.S. plants.

UAW members at 19 of 24 U.S. Chrysler factories and several other facilities left their jobs for the picket lines at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Among the major issues in the Chrysler talks were the retiree health-care trust; the company's desire to outsource parts-trucking jobs; promises that future products will be built at U.S. factories; and parity with health-care concessions that were given to Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. two years ago.

A majority of Chrysler workers will have to ratify the tentative agreement before it can take effect. Ford will be the final automaker to bargain with the UAW.

Chrysler became a private company shortly after the contract talks began in July. Cerberus bought its share of Chrysler from the former DaimlerChrysler AG in a $7.4 billion transaction in August. Chrysler is now a private company without publicly traded shares.