UAW sets strike deadline in talks with Chrysler

Chrysler has two Ohio plants that would be
included in a UAW strike.

DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers has set a deadline of 11 a.m. Wednesday to agree on a new contract with Chrysler LLC or workers could strike.

The deadline, confirmed Monday morning by Chrysler spokeswoman Michele Tinson, gives negotiators less than 48 hours until a strike could be called.

Bargainers returned to the table Monday morning after spending most of the weekend in negotiations.v

Just because a deadline has been set doesn’t mean a strike will happen, Tinson said. The union also could extend the contract hour-by-hour as negotiations continue, she said.

UAW spokesman Roger Kerson would not comment Monday on the possibility of a strike.

Progress was reported in weekend bargaining, but a person who had been briefed on the talks said that much work needed to be done on difficult issues. The person asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

The UAW represents about 49,000 hourly workers at Chrysler, making it the smallest of the three major domestic automakers.

Workers the union represents at General Motors Corp. locations went on strike for nearly two days last month before coming to a tentative agreement with GM.

The deadline directly affects two Ohio plants — the Perrysburg site just outside Toledo and another in Twinsburg in northeast Ohio. Both plants employ around 1,500 people.

Workers at Chrysler’s biggest Ohio factory, a Jeep assembly plant in Toledo, are covered under a separate labor contract so there won’t be a strike there.

But a long walkout likely would disrupt production of the Jeep Liberty and Wrangler and the Dodge Nitro at the plant because parts made at other locations may become unavailable.

A year ago, UAW workers at Chrysler’s machining plant in Perrysburg agreed to job changes a to save the plant from closing.

The changes will allow the plant to make a new V-6 engine. Plans are for the company to cut about 800 jobs by 2011 and pay new employees less than current workers.

The plant now makes steering columns and torque converters, but will shift to work on the more efficient engine.

Chrysler also has more than 1,600 employees at its Twinsburg Stamping Plant, about 16 miles southeast of Cleveland. Earlier this year the company announced plans to cut 110 jobs at the site by 2009.

The plant opened in 1957 and stamps hoods, side panels and roofs for vehicles including the Dodge Dakota, Chrysler and Dodge minivans and three Jeep models.