- Chrysler has fired 13 workers at the Detroit plant that builds the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee after they were caught drinking and smoking pot on their lunch hour.
- Chrysler said the fired workers "violated the company's standards of conduct."
- Fox 2 Detroit tracked the employees for days in late summer and caught them on tape misbehaving at a local park near the plant.
AUBURN HILLS, Michigan — Chrysler late Monday fired 13 workers at the Detroit assembly plant that builds the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee after they were caught drinking and smoking pot on their lunch hour by a Detroit TV station. The scandal triggered concerns among the buying public about the quality of Chrysler products in the aftermath of a federal bailout last year. The automaker addressed those concerns in a statement, saying that it "will work to restore the public's faith."
"Our customers can be assured that the Jefferson North Assembly Plant has implemented a comprehensive quality system for all of the vehicles it builds," said the Chrysler statement. "This system has redundant controls that do not allow a single person's error to result in a quality problem flowing to the customer.
"In fact, early warranty results indicate that the quality performance from the launch of the new Grand Cherokee may be the best launch in the history of Chrysler for vehicle reliability."
The bad behavior of the 13 fired Chrysler workers seemed ironic, given a commercial for the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee that featured the ringing of hammers, a welder and scenes from a factory as the announcer intoned that craftsmanship and quality "are matters of personal pride" to Chrysler workers. The commercial says that the new Grand Cherokee "is well made and it is designed to work." The tagline for the ad is, "The things we make, make us."
"As is evidenced by the swift action taken in this matter, it should be clear that Chrysler Group will not tolerate such behavior and will continue to evaluate its protocols to ensure that something like this does not happen again," it said.
Chrysler said the fired workers "violated the company's standards of conduct." Two other employees will receive a one-month disciplinary layoff without pay.
"It is unfortunate that the actions of a few people have called into question the reputation of more than 51,000 very proud, hard-working Chrysler Group employees, grateful that the American and Canadian taxpayers gave us a second chance," the statement said.
Fox 2 Detroit tracked the employees for days in late summer and caught them on tape at a local park near the plant, drinking beer and smoking pot on their lunch hour. When approached by the reporter and camera crew, the workers jumped into their vehicles and peeled out of the parking lot.
Jefferson North Assembly was the backdrop in late July for a visit by President Obama, who praised American workers, saying "I would bet on the American worker any day of the week."
Inside Line says: Chrysler isn't fooling around when it comes to damage control in this scandal. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
northsparrow says:
08:00 PM, 09/28/2010
Credit IL with giving us a forum to lament the galloping catastrophe that the executive class at the former Big 3 have unleashed across the industrial heartland of our countries.
With their friends in the advertising-dependent press assisting them in scapegoating the workers as the source of any and all problems it's no wonder they got away with it so long.
I must have read a thousand articles blaming the UAW/CAW for the decline of the Detroit based companies but I have yet to see even one congratulating the IG Metall union for the runaway success of BMW.
tbone85 says:
06:15 PM, 09/28/2010
Mclinford and Northsparrow,
I agree with much of what you've both said. However,
"A drunk executive might give someone a paper cut, while a drunk floor worker could cause loss of life."
The drunk worker can cause loss of life, and the drunk executive can cause the loss of the company. I refuse to believe anyone who approved the Commander or the Asstek could possibly have been sober at the time. Life is fundamental, but I cannot down play what poor executive and middle-management decisions have done to these companies, employees, familes, and our economy. The losses have been real.
mclinford says:
03:33 PM, 09/28/2010
@northsparrow
Executives at Chrysler probably cushion themselves with some "perks" now and again. However, factory line workers that are stoned and high are not only a danger to themselves, but to everyone around them. I fired someone on the spot when I managed a production line when I smelled alchohol on his breath. He handled cutters and large machinery, there was no question what to do in that situation.
Most people hold other people's lives in their hands when their dealing with machinery.
A drunk executive might give someone a paper cut, while a drunk floor worker could cause loss of life.
Not even a close comparison, but you have a valid point nonetheless when concerning PR.
5010avanti says:
03:02 PM, 09/28/2010
Now what are the German companies going to do about the drunken krauts working on their assembly lines?
sjw91 says:
02:19 PM, 09/28/2010
This could be the team that designed the Jeep Compass...
ocramidajzj says:
01:29 PM, 09/28/2010
+1 Northsparrow
One wonders if the treatment is equal across the chain of command. Wonder what the supervisor for those men got as punishment.
cz_75 says:
12:58 PM, 09/28/2010
Wonder if the UAW will challenge the dismissals?
rustyshunt says:
11:51 AM, 09/28/2010
Ok, NEW TAGLINE!
"The things we drink.......make us drunk!"
Rusty
northsparrow says:
10:54 AM, 09/28/2010
While nobody can condone the sort of substance abuse that potentially puts all workers and customers in danger there is nonetheless a fascinating dichotomy between the fate of these hourly workers and the fate of generations of Chrysler executives who drove that company into the ground .
I wonder just how many martinis those well-connected executives must have been consuming during their long, long lunch hours to approve the 3rd rate rubbish Chrysler foisted upon the trusting public for decades.
What was their punishment, platinum-plated golden parachutes?
Since someone brought up bailouts, why exactly did the Government of Mexico get off so lightly when the hat was being passed? Their factories seem to have the highest level of job security without a corresponding contribution from Juan Q Public.
joeo26 says:
10:27 AM, 09/28/2010
Its good to see it "may be the best" for reliability for Chrysler! A. I hope its the best, its 2010 it SHOULD be. B. May be the best reliability for Chrysler, we now you only have 25 years of catching up instead of 50!