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
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