DETROIT (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) and the United Auto Workers union reached a tentative agreement for a new labor contract for the company's 40,000 unionized workers in the United States on Tuesday, the union and the company said.
The deal, which must now go before Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (MI:FCHA) (N:FCAU) unionized workers for ratification, ends the threat of a strike that could have crippled production of the Italian-American automaker's most profitable vehicles.
The proposed pact was agreed by negotiators who worked through most of the night into Tuesday afternoon after the old four-year contract was extended beyond its expiration on an "hour by hour" basis.
FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne and UAW President Dennis Williams will hold a press conference later on Tuesday.
