AP
3 More UAW Locals Reject Chrysler Deal Saturday October 20, 2007 3 More United Auto Workers Local Unions Vote to Reject Controversial Chrysler Agreement DETROIT (AP) -- Three more United Auto Workers local unions have voted to reject a tentative contract with Chrysler LLC amid members' concern about facets of the agreement. Members in Local 110 in Fenton, Mo., Local 122 in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Local 1183 in Newark, Del., rejected the deal. Results of voting Friday at another plant in Michigan weren't available. More voting was to take place Saturday, also in Michigan.
A recording at Local 110, which represents 2,781 hourly workers at the South Assembly Plant, said 66 percent of skilled trade workers and 79 percent of non-skilled workers voted against the contract. The plant makes Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Caravan minivans.
Richard McDonaugh Jr., president of Local 1183, said in a statement Saturday that the contract failed at his local by a vote of 54 percent to 46 percent. The local represents 1,581 hourly UAW members.
"It was not as bad as one would think," said McDonaugh, whose plant is slated for closure. "With the possibility of closure in 2009, it was somewhat expected." Local 122, which represents 1,515 workers at the Twinsburg plant, voted against the contract, local president Charles Spencer told the Detroit Free Press. He said 53 percent of the votes were against the deal. A message seeking comment was left Saturday with the local.
A majority of Chrysler's 45,000 UAW members must ratify the tentative agreement before it can take effect. Locals in Detroit and suburban St. Louis also have rejected the pact, while a local in Kenosha, Wis., voted to approve it. The agreement was reached Oct. 10, the same day the union announced that General Motors Corp. workers had approved a similar contract. If workers vote it down, negotiators must go back to the bargaining table.
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