With the sale of Chrysler Corporation to the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, the most powerful Wall Street financial interests are in position to press ahead with their plans for a radical restructuring and downsizing of the North American auto industry. The buyout—the first by a private equity firm of a major auto producer—threatens the jobs and livelihoods of Chrysler’s 80,000 workers in the US and Canada and sets a precedent for an intensified attack on all autoworkers.
The United Auto Workers’ backing for the sale of Chrysler to the Wall Street private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management has far-reaching and dire implications not only for Chrysler workers, but for all US auto workers.
German automaker DaimlerChrysler announced yesterday that it had agreed to sell majority ownership of its North American Chrysler Group to the private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management for $7.4 billion. The sale paves the way for the carve-up of the 80-year-old auto company and a massive attack on the jobs, wages and health and retirement benefits of Chrysler’s 80,000 employees in the US and Canada.
