Chrysler wage-boost pact now up for ratification

The United Automobile Workers won wage and benefit increases for 60,600 hourly workers at Chrysler Corporation in a tentative contract agreement Thursday, but Douglas Fraser, president of the UAW, conceded ratification might be difficult.

The contract has a one-year section covering wage hikes and benefit improvements and a two-year agreement on noneconomic issues. They expire Sept. 14, 1983 and 1984, respectively. The union's Chrysler Council was to consider the pact at a meeting today (Sept. 17). If approved, the contract would then be presented to the rank and file for a vote, which Fraser hoped could be completed in 10 days.