End of an era: Final Dodge Ram rolls off Fenton line

[mart]

End of an era: Final Dodge Ram rolls off Fenton
line - Chrysler's Fenton Missouri Plant Closes
For Ever

According to this news article a handful of employees will
be retained by Chrysler for another week os so to pack
up the remaining parts for shipment to Chryler's truck plant
in Saltillo, Mexico. What the article doesn't mention is the
fact Chrysler pays it's Mexican plant workers an averge of
just $3.25 and hour.

mart
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The Jamaica Gleaner
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com
July 5, 2009

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/ ... auto1.html

The end of an era: Final Dodge Ram rolls off Fenton line

Published: Sunday July 5, 2009


His 24 years at Chrysler made Toby Strayhorn
a bit player in a process that turned out more cars,
minivans and pickups than he dared to count.

On Thursday morning, the 54-year-old Ferguson
resident watched a silver 2009 Dodge Ram pickup
roll out of a final preparation stage at Fenton's
north plant and into history.

The pickup represents the final vehicle that
Strayhorn, or Fenton, will ever produce.

"This is clearly a sad day for us and people all
over the area who have put their blood, sweat
and tears into (the Fenton plants) for the past
50 years," said Fenton Mayor Dennis Hancock.

The end came quietly and unexpectedly
- everyone anticipated Fenton would make its
final Dodge Ram on July 10.

"Everybody was trying to be upbeat," said
Strayhorn.

Futilely, as it turned out.

As the Dodge Ram was wheeled into a common
area, the final production shift gathered around
it and, spontaneously, solemnly began affixing
their names to the vehicle.


"There wasn't a ceremony," said Mike Walton,
who has worked at the plant since 1995. "It
was more like a funeral."

sense of déjà vu

A farewell commemorating a death a long
time coming.

For Strayhorn and many other Chrysler workers,
there was a sense of déjà vu on Thursday.

In October, Strayhorn helped build the final
minivan at the adjacent south plant when

Chrysler shut down production at that location.

When Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in April, the
company said it would shutter the north plant
by the end of September, with the intent of
disposing of both Fenton assembly plants.

As part of the bankruptcy, the automaker
temporarily idled the north plant along with
Chrysler's other manufacturing facilities.

On June 10, a 'new' Chrysler - backed by the US
government and Italian automaker Fiat SpA
- emerged from bankruptcy.

Summoned back Monday after a two-month
layoff, Strayhorn and 660 workers knew the
stay of execution was finite.

Still, it had been expected they would remain
on the job until July 10, the last day Chrysler
had scheduled production in Fenton.

The completion of the job a full week ahead of
schedule "shows what type of workforce we
have here", said Don Ackerman, the head of
United Auto Workers Local 136.

In this instance, diligence prematurely pushed
the majority of the remaining Chrysler employees
out of a job.

Walton, 48, of Imperial, is among the handful
of workers scheduled to stay at the plant
through July 10 to prepare the remaining parts
for shipment to other Chrysler facilities,
including Mexico. Chrysler also makes Ram
pickups at Warren, Mich, and Saltillo, Mexico.

He is awaiting word about a transfer to a
Chrysler plant in Michigan.

Strayhorn punched the clock Thursday and
will never work for Chrysler again. He plans
to retire rather than transfer.

"Unemployed as of today," he said in an
interview Thursday night. "Because of the
(supplemental unemployment) benefits, I'll
still collect a cheque for a while. But I won't
have a job to go to. It's a big loss."

One that extends well beyond the thousands
victimised by the one-two punch of a car
company's devastating loss of market share
during an equally brutal downturn in the economy.

US sales of the Dodge Ram fell 31 per cent last year
from 2007 and have dropped 27 per cent to about
94,500 units for the first six months of 2009. With
pickup sales shrinking, Chrysler will consolidate
production at the two remaining Dodge Ram
plants in Michigan and Mexico.

"It's not just us, it's the community," Walton pointed
out. "We once had 6,000 people working there between
the two plants. Now, the middle-class wages are lost,
and when that happens, the community loses income,
too. The restaurants, the bars the gas stations,
everyone. It's a domino effect."

Hancock is optimistic that the last domino has fallen.

"The plant is a fixture in our community," he said.
"And I don't think it will be long before we see some
real interest in that facility."

For now, however, the only interest is in doing right
for the hundreds no longer employed at the site.

US Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., has scheduled a
meeting in Fenton this afternoon to discuss the future
of the Chrysler workers with company officials and
union leaders.

--------------------------------
Photos:
1): "The Dodge Ram 3500 Heavy Duty sits
on display at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show in Chicago,
Illinois, Wednesday, February 11."
http://tinyurl.com/n5ly84

2) "The interior of the new 2009 Dodge Ram.
It is the first vehicle to benefit from a stepped-up
effort by Chrysler to improve quality in that part
of the vehicle through Chrysler's Advanced
Interior Design"
http://tinyurl.com/ml7jz7

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