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Fiat Chrysler Hires 4,100 Detroit Residents for New Plant

The auto giant is obliged to employ at least 3,850 Detroiters under its agreement with the city.

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DETROIT (AP) — Fiat Chrysler has hired about 4,100 Detroit residents, and most if not all of them will be employed at a new auto plant on the city’s east side.

The auto giant is obliged to employ at least 3,850 Detroiters at the Mack assembly plant under a development deal with the city for the land where plant is being built. If the remaining 250 workers who have been hired are not employed at Mack, they could be sent to work at any of Fiat Chrysler's other plants in Detroit or the suburbs.

“When Mack comes on line at the end of first quarter next year, we’ll have a better sense of exactly what the solid numbers are related to our facilities in Macomb County, the city of Detroit and other cities,” Fiat Chrysler external affairs manager Ron Stallworth told reporters Wednesday.

Under the $108 million land development deal between Fiat Chrysler and the city, the automaker said it would give Detroit residents first crack at applying for good-paying jobs at its new plant.

Laid-off and temporary Fiat Chrysler workers got to apply first. Detroit residents then were considered before the jobs were opened up to others.

Pay will start at $17 per hour and can climb to $28 per hour, Mayor Mike Duggan said.

About 3,400 of those hired have agreed to fill vacancies at other Fiat Chrysler facilities as supplemental workers at lower pay until the Mack plant opens next year.

When the automaker approached the city about the supplemental workers, Duggan said “that’s jobs for Detroiters. We’ll take that on.”

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