Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne says he is headed to Detroit and Washington today to attempt to finalize the proposed Chrysler -Fiat merger before the April 30 deadline – but he’s not headed to Canada, where the Canadian Auto Workers’ resistance to negotiate could spell the end of the tie-up.
The CAW union had invited Marchionne to take part in their talks with Chrysler, but a source close to Marchionne at Fiat leaked to the media that the CEO won’t travel north of Detroit.
Workers unions, particularly the CAW, have been unwilling to accept the concessions Fiat and Chrysler say are necessary to complete the merger by the April 30 deadline imposed by the Obama administration’s auto industry task force. Chrysler has had a brief but fiery dispute with the CAW over the last few months; the automaker went as far as suggesting that it would cease operations entirely in Canada.
Last month, the CAW and General Motors reached a concessions agreement that Chrysler and Ford say doesn’t go far enough.
Marchionne will, however, try to firm up some details with Chrysler and Detroit and with the U.S. government in Washington, D.C.
