* Chrysler has fired 13 workers at the Detroit plant that builds the 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. —
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Tuesday, September 28th 2010 at 12:23PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
