Labor
In 1985 there were 4,000 employees working at the plant. At the start of the Neon car production, there were 3,250 hourly and 250 salaried employees working at the factory as of November 10, 1993.
There were 2,650 employees working at the factory at the start of 2007 model year Jeep Compass production, up from 1,700 in 2005 when one shift of employees was in place. However, the third shift, which was first instituted in 2006, was discontinued in 2008. The plant was idled during the Chrysler's bankruptcy filing and became an one-shift operation from July 2009. A 'temporary' second shift was added by October 2009.
Production of vehicles dropped from 263,521 in 2008 to 84,609 in 2009.
The workforce is represented by the United Auto Workers, Local 1268 and 1761. There have been two UAW-ordered strikes in the plant's history. In 1973, there was a 9 day strike over the right to turn down overtime, pension funding, and health and safety measures. In 1981, there was a 9 day strike to receive pay parity with Ford and GM workers. Chrysler proposed eliminating several job classifications so workers could be required to perform more than one task.
Kurt Kavajecz is the plant manager.
Read more about this topic: Belvidere Assembly Plant
Famous quotes containing the word labor:
“It is queer to contemplate how many people there are in any community who labor under the hallucination that if one is engaged in any occupation different from their own, that they are just having a good time, with no possible hardships to encounter.”
—Caroline Nichols Churchill (1833–?)
“I count him a great man who inhabits a higher sphere of thought, into which other men rise with labor and difficulty; he has but to open his eyes to see things in a true light, and in large relations; whilst they must make painful corrections, and keep a vigilant eye on many sources of error.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I know my state, both full of shame and scorn,
Conceived in sin, and unto labor born,
Standing with fear, and must with horror fall,
And destined unto judgment, after all.”
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)