Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne welcomes two new board members - including one from the UAW.
CEO Sergio Marchionne has brought a representative of the United Auto Workers Union onto the Chrysler Group LLC board of directors.
The appointment of the UAW’s Eric Perkins comes at the request of a trust fund set up to cover the health care costs of retired unionized workers. The so-called VEBA currently holds a 41.5% stake in the smallest of the Detroit makers.
Perkins is the director of the UAW’s strategic research department, a non-elected position on the union’s professional staff, and his appointment to the nine-member Chrysler board was effective June 10, the maker said.
The automaker has also appointed Ruth Simmons, the retiring president of Rhode Island’s prestigious Brown University, to the board replacing former Michigan governor James Blanchard who is stepping down at the end of his term.
Blanchard was the union’s pick for the board of the new Chrysler after it emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.
“I’m pleased to welcome Ruth and Eric to the Chrysler Group board of directors,” Marchionne, chairman and chief executive of both Chrysler and Fiat, said in a statement. “Our new board members bring impressive leadership experience, and their diverse perspectives and counsel will be of great service as we work toward achieving the financial targets outlined in our business plan.”
Italy’s Fiat now owns 58.1% of Chrysler’s stock after helping guide the third largest US automaker out of bankruptcy. Fiat, however, is expected to increase its stake in the U.S. before the end of the year by purchasing a chunk of the UAW health care trust’s stake.
The appointment of Perkins comes nearly three months after UAW president Bob King was given a seat on the board of GM’s European subsidiary Opel.
King was appointed to the Opel board of supervisors by the German metalworkers union, IG Metal. IG Metal also had previously approved the appointment of UAW officers to the supervisory board of the now defunct DaimlerChrysler AG.
Former UAW president Owen Bieber, followed former UAW president Doug Fraser onto the board of directors of the old Chrysler back in the 1980s. Bieber, however, was ousted from the board after a dispute over executive compensation with Chrysler’s then chairman and chief executive officer Lee Iacocca.