Chrysler and the United Auto Workers have reached a tentative new labor contract, in a deal expected to create 2,100 new jobs.
The new contract, which covers approximately 26,000 Chrysler employees, will now be presented to UAW members for a vote.
The proposed agreement is also said to include $4.5 billion of investment to produce new models and upgraded vehicles.
The tentative agreement parallels deals struck with General Motors and Ford, which included pay increases for new workers and bonuses for long-serving employees to compensate for the loss of cost-of-living adjustments and automatic pay increases.
"Less than three years ago, Chrysler was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy as our nation was thrown into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression," said UAW president Bob King.
"This tentative agreement builds on the momentum of job creation and our efforts to rebuild America by adding 2,100 new jobs by the end of the agreement in 2015 to communities left in turmoil in the wake of the country's economic collapse," King said.
Italian automaker Fiat has been steering Chrysler since it emerged from a government-supported bankruptcy in June 2009, gradually increasing its share of the number-three US automaker to 53.5% after buying out a stake held by the U.S. Treasury.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011
