"It's terrible for workers," said Alex Wassell, a Chrysler employee who was fired after helping to organize a recent protest outside a plant in Warren, Mich.
New Schedule Based on Demand
"Chrysler Group has been fortunate enough to see demand for its products increase significantly over the past three years," said Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Tinson.
The new schedule makes room for a third shift of workers and lets Chrysler run the plants 20 hours a day, six days a week.
It also eliminates the roughly $120 a week workers used to earn in overtime pay, which substantially trims labor costs.
"We have worked in partnership with the UAW to find creative ways to boost production at all of our facilities," Tinson said, noting that the four-day work week means an extra 49 days off a year.
"We understand and appreciate that this is a transition to a new work pattern," Tinson said.
While Fiat has idled factories and workers in Europe amidst an industry-wide slump, Chrysler production in the United States has climbed from 950,000 units in 2009 to 2.4 million units last year and is expected to increase to 2.6 million units in 2013.
Without Chrysler, which saw its profits jump 68% last year, Fiat would have lost 1.04 billion euros (US $1.4 billion) in 2012 instead of earning a profit of 1.4 billion euros (US $1.86 billion dollars) according to the Italian carmaker's financial reports.
The Warren plant began operating on three shifts this month.
