Fiat Chrysler offering this city's residents 1st shot at new factory jobs
Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) on General Motors decision to close some of its U.S. plants and lay off workers.
Detroit residents will have the chance to get jobs at a new Fiat Chrysler plant before anyone else, thanks to a unique deal the automaker made with the city.
Fiat Chrysler is building a new $1.6 billion plant and spending $900 million to revitalize another. Under the terms of a land development deal with Detroit for the new plant, the company will consider city residents for jobs before anyone else, the Associated Press reported.
Laid-off and temporary Fiat Chrysler workers will get preference ahead of other residents, according to the report.
Mayor Mike Duggan told the AP that city officials want residents to be able to own homes and raise families. Having a good job is key.
“We clear the land and give it to them. I want a window where Detroiters apply for the jobs first,” he said. “No one in this country has ever got the preference.”
In exchange, the company gets land and tax breaks under the $108 million deal, but there’s no guarantee city residents will get the jobs, according to the report. The city will split some of the costs with the state.
The automaker has said the plant will bring about 4,900 jobs. More than 24,000 residents have signed up for job readiness events connected to the plant openings, according to the report. Pay will start at just over $17 per hour.
2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit (Jeep/FCA US)
Fiat Chrysler said workers will assemble the Jeep Grand Cherokee, a new three-row Jeep SUV and plug-in hybrid models at the plant.
The project is part of a larger $4.5 billion investment spread across five Michigan facilities that Fiat Chrysler said will create nearly 6,500 jobs.