密歇根新闻广播 克莱斯勒公司与美国汽车协会达成临时协议

A tentative contract agreement has been reached by Fiat¹ Chrysler Automobiles³ and United Auto² Workers, one that FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne describes as "transformational."

Detroit News business columnist⁴ Daniel Howes says this proposed deal sets a high bar.

Howes thinks the companies are signaling to employees and industry analysts⁵ that some significant changes are coming.

He says that not only is everybody, "going to get some kind of raise," but also that the controversial second-tier wage that was instituted in the 2007 agreement is going to start going away over time.

Howes expects first-tier workers to get a small pay raise, their first in ten years.

He says that though Marchionne and UAW President Dennis Williams are satisfied, it isn't a done deal yet.

"This is not just (about) getting a tentative agreement, it's always about getting the deal ratified⁶," he said, "The members of the UAW structure are the last word, except in very extreme and unusual circumstances."

In addition to wage adjustments, the union has also been very interested in establishing a health care pool, according to Howes. He explains that by pooling all the workers together, the UAW hopes to increase its overall buying power in the health care marketplace.

"All three companies are very open to this idea," Howes said, "Because anything that can restrain a growth of health care costs for them is a positive."

Howes tells us that Marchionne was clear in a Tuesday press conference that once the deal had been ratified, he would move on to his "number one objective."

"He needs to find a merger⁷ partner and he wants that merger partner to be General Motors. And just because CEO Mary Barra says, 'we're not interested,' doesn't mean … he's not going to try to make it happen."

1 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

2 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

3 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

7 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。