This morning on Paul W. Smith's morning talk show (AM760), Ron Gettelfinger was a guest. Paul W. tried to extract comments from Gettelfinger about Fiat's leaked plans to kill off some badly noncompetitive Chrysler and Dodge products, and the risk that this plan may hold for UAW employment. Gettelfinger, as carefully spoken as ever, did not take the bait, and openly praised Sergio Marchionne instead. Approximately:
"We have a close working relationship with Sergio Marchionne. He has his arms around the car industry. He understands what the buying public wants."
Gettelfinger then went on to say, as he often does, that he won't comment on "rumors and speculation". "The newspapers, they want to sell their product. And you know how they have been doing lately".
Besides a resistance to attack Fiat based on an unpublished plan, Gettelfinger's response may indicate that there is less danger to UAW interests in Fiat's plan than the media is inferring. For example, perhaps Fiat plans to build more Fiat/Alfa cars here using UAW labor, and that the plants will be re-tooled rather than shut down.
