When you’re asking for a loan you usually ask humbly. However, Chrysler had a more direct tone with the Canadian government on Wednesday saying that the automaker may close plants in the country if it doesn’t get sufficient labor concessions, government aid and resolution of tax disputes.
“Failure to satisfactorily resolve these three factors — the labor costs, government assistance and of course the transfer tax — will place our Canadian manufacturing operations at a significant disadvantage relative to our manufacturing operations in North America and may very well impair our ability to continue to produce in Canada,” Tom LaSorda, Chrysler President and Vice Chairman said.
LaSorda said that a more direct tone was needed to lay out the seriousness of the matter. The main concern for Chrysler is the cost of labor. LaSorda said Chrysler’ labor cost in Canada were $75 ($58 USD) an hour, $20 ($15 USD) more than its Canadian rival Toyota and Honda.
He said that Chrysler is seeing $2.3 billion ($1.8 billion) in aid from the Canadian government.
- By: Omar Rana
Source: Reuters
