Hopefuls must apply for Chrysler work online
8/11/2011The 1,105 new jobs Chrysler Group LLC plans to add to its work force won’t be the same top-tier, blue-collar jobs they would have been a few years ago. But even at second-tier wages, the new hires are expected to add $36 million to the Toledo Assembly complex’s annual payroll.
But don’t call or line up outside the factory just yet.
The new jobs — which aren’t expected to be added until sometime between October, 2011 and December, 2012 — will all be hired through Chrysler’s job Web site, ChryslerCareers.com, and potential candidates won’t be able to submit applications until the jobs are posted on that online board, Chrysler spokesman Jodi Tinson told The Blade.
“A position would have to be posted there in order for someone to apply,” Ms. Tinson said. She could not predict when any new positions would be posted, should the automaker move forward with its plans for the Toledo North Assembly plant.
However, when the 1,050 new assembly workers called for in Chrysler’s application for tax abatements are finally hired, they will start at the second-tier wage scale in Chrysler’s current contract with the United Auto Workers. Right now, that rate stands at $14.65 an hour, but it is currently being renegotiated by the union and the automaker.
With benefits, the “all-in” wage rate for new hires would equate to about $30 per hour, Ms. Tinson said.
Chrysler employees on the company’s first tier are paid about $28 an hour, with a similar “all-in” wage rate — including pensions, health insurance, and profit-sharing payments — of about $49, Ms. Tinson said.
While jobs within the plant itself may be several months off, construction jobs for those in that industry may appear sooner. The company’s public documents indicate that it plans to spend $8 million to expand the Toledo North plant, where the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro are currently assembled. The company did not indicate what physical changes it might make to the facility, but union and management officials within the local construction industry told The Blade several weeks ago that Chrysler had solicited bids to oversee construction at the plant.
Chrysler’s plans to add a shift at the Toledo North plant will also mean new jobs at area automotive suppliers.
While contracts could change as Chrysler begins production of a planned new vehicle or vehicles in the plant for 2013, suppliers like Dana Holding Corp., Johnson Controls Inc., Faurecia SA, and Magna Interiors and Exteriors have all supplied parts to the current Jeep Liberty or Dodge Nitro, and would likely add employees if production at the plant expands.