Chrysler to add 1,100 workers at Detroit plant to make SUVs

About 1,100 new Chrysler employees will begin working next week on a third crew at Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit to meet continuing strong demand for the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The automaker has added about 7,000 workers at plants in the U.S. and Canada since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2009. Now it is planning to add a third crew of workers at the Warren truck plant by March.

Adding the third crew now was driven by the mounting cost of overtime Jefferson North's workers have logged in recent months. Newly hired workers start at a lower wage to which the UAW agreed in its 2011 contract.

"Having a third shift at Jefferson North ... is going to help normalize the work schedule and give our employees back some of their personal time and still allow us to meet the demand that we are seeing from our customers," said Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Tinson.

Through September, U.S. sales of the Grand Cherokee are up 30.1% from a year earlier to 112,075 though sales of the Dodge Durango, the other SUV assembled at Jefferson North, have declined 23.4% to 30,052.

Chrysler first announced plans for a third crew at Jefferson North in January.

Starting next week, Jefferson North will operate on something Chrysler calls a "3-2-120" schedule that is controversial among some UAW workers. Three crews of workers rotate over two 10-hour shifts with each crew on a four-day schedule. The new schedule cuts manufacturing costs because it keeps the plant running 120 hours a week, resulting in 49 more days of production than a traditional schedule.

It also provides Chrysler more time to make repairs to equipment than under a traditional three-shift schedule, Tinson said.

Chrysler is also planning a similar work schedule that could involve hiring 900 to 1,000 new workers at its Warren assembly plant where it makes the 2013 Ram 1500. Several workers told the Free Press the UAW and Chrysler are negotiating over the shift schedule at Warren.

The Free Press first reported in June that Chrysler was considering an additional shift at Warren to meet increased demand for the Ram pickup. Production of the 2013 Ram 1500 began in September. Shelley Eggemeyer, 52, of South Rockwood, said Chrysler also is discussing the addition of a third crew at Warren Stamping, which supplies parts for the Ram pickups built at Warren Truck. "There is a good chance I am going to be put on evenings after 13 years of days at Chrysler," Eggemeyer said.

Chrysler uses some form of an alternative work schedule at seven of its U.S. plants. The UAW agreed in 2009 to "alternative work schedules," as long as local union leaders agree to the specifics.