The story also mentions the Toledo plant adding workers – Toledo was the original Jeep factory, a place that I visited and also started working at just before American Motors ending up being acquired by Chrsyler. Chrysler wanted the Jeep plant, not the plant in Wisconsin that made the Gremlin.
An interesting question to ask would be – how many of the workers at Jefferson Avenue live in Detroit? Jefferson Avenue was expanded a few years ago when the city agreed to use eminent domain and provide huge tax incentives to Chrslyer to not leave the city.
The Detroit City Income Tax rate is 2.5% for residents, 1.25% for non-residents who work in the city. The income tax is one of the reasons that people left the city in the first place.
Under the new UAW agreement, new hires to fill those jobs will start at $15.78 per hour but unless you’re already on the job bank waiting list, you can’t apply for that job that pays almost 2x the minimum wage and almost half of the wages the person next to you is making who was with the Old Chrsyler UAW union.
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/chrysler-auto-workers-busted_20100923_dk
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/chrysler-workers-react-to-firings-20100927-wpms