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Chrysler hits the wall

by Paddy Hirsch
Apr 29, 2009

President Obama will announce the bankruptcy of Chrysler Corp. tomorrow. This according to a variety of "sources said" stories circulating, including this one from Bloomberg. The filing will coincide with an alliance with Fiat.

The Italian company would become a 20 percent owner of Chrysler, and a union retiree health-care trust fund would own 55 percent, with the rest of the company staying in the government's hands initially.

About the author

Paddy Hirsch is the Senior Producer, Personal Finance at Marketplace and the creator and host of the Marketplace Whiteboard. Follow Paddy on Twitter @paddyhirsch and on facebook at www.facebook.com/paddyhirsch101
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Kevin H's picture
Kevin H - Apr 29, 2009

I don't know much about the history of unions, but is it common to have a union actually own part of the company? If so, the whole union vs business debate seems odd, and the internal politics must be insane.

Don's picture
Don - Apr 30, 2009

Union ownership is a great idea, in my opinion, for a basket case like Chrysler. Directly linking worker productivity with keeping the union benefits at a reasonable level has to be an improvement over the past labor vs management battles.

Paddy Hirsch's picture
Paddy Hirsch - Apr 30, 2009

Don, this was a big topic of conversation at our meeting this morning. Some compared the idea to share option compensation plans, which provide executives with incentive to operate the company efficiently. Others pointed out that system has its flaws, and still more said the history of worker-owned companies has been pretty patchy, in term of their success. You'll be pleased to know we're all still friends, though.

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