EON

Boston (EON) - The United Automobile Workers union has set a deadline to reach a new four-year contract with Chrysler for Wednesday with a strike looming.

The deadline is an effort to keep the talks from dragging on for too long as the union wanted a deadline in place to try and get the new four-year contract done and over with. The same was done with General Motors last month which resulted in the union walking out for two days before striking a deal on September 26th.

People close to the talks as of late Sunday night stated that once Wednesday comes the union could strike the company of Chrysler or they could extend the contract hour to hour until a deal is reached.

Talks have picked up quite a bit as of last Friday and went all through the weekend and into the Monday holiday of Columbus Day.

There was no specific time set for the deadline on Wednesday. Chrysler has yet to speak about the progress of the talks. The contract with General Motors though ended with a health care trust, as well as a voluntary employee benefits association going into effect. It would also take liability for health care benefits for current and retired workers totaling $55 billion for General Motors. The current Chrysler contract has them at $18 billion, way below that of GM.