CAW won't budge - merger or no merger

Talk about playing hard ball! The Canadian Auto Workers union has said it refuses to accept more concessions under Chrysler than those agreed upon with General Motors, despite reports the company's potential merger partner, Fiat, will walk unless further cuts are taken.

CAW president Ken Lewenza said yesterday he finds it hard to believe that Italian auto giant Fiat would turn Canadian negotiations into a deal breaker with Chrysler. "We are only a small player in a much bigger (merger) discussion going on in the U.S.," Lewenza said. "There's no rationale for this."

One report quoted Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne as saying that talks for concessions with Chrysler's American and Canadian workers "are out of sync" with the reality of the company's problems.

Marchionne said Fiat would end merger talks with Chrysler if bigger cost concessions are not made.

U.S. President Barack Obama has mandated Chrysler get a merger partner by the end of the month in order to continue receiving state aid. The company already has billions of dollars from the U.S. government and another $285 million from Ottawa.

[Source: The Toronto Star]