ROME (dpa-AFX) - Fiat Chrysler reportedly plans to lay off 3,200 workers temporarily in April as the auto giant moves forward with its plans to spend $700 million to transform a plant in Toledo to build the next-generation Wrangler.
The workers will be laid off for up to six months, as Fiat shifts car production to plants outside of the U.S. And transform plants in the country to build the company's more profitable trucks and SUVs.
Jodi Tinson, an FCA spokesperson, said to the Detroit Free Press that the layoffs had been expected because of the time needed to end Cherokee production in Toledo in an adjacent plant and prepare for production of a new Wrangler there.
The company plans to call back the workers and add an additional 700 jobs. The additional workers will be hired in a 'phased-in approach, as opposed to hiring them all on day one,' Tinson said.
The workers will receive an average of 95% of their weekly take-home pay through unemployment insurance and benefits, through a combination of state benefits and union contracts with the company, according to reports.
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