CAW reaches deals with GM, Chrysler

By John McCrank and Kevin Krolicki

TORONTO/DETROIT (Reuters) - The Canadian Auto Workers union reached tentative contracts with General Motors (GM.N: Quote) and Chrysler LLC CBS.UL on Thursday, wrapping up a lightning round of talks with Detroit automakers intended to protect workers from an even deeper downturn in the industry.

With five months remaining on the current contracts, the deals marked the earliest agreements ever negotiated by the Canadian union, which rushed to clinch deals with two of the "Big Three" automakers on the same day, a first since its 1985 split from the U.S.-based United Auto Workers.

CAW-represented workers ratified a new three-year wage and benefit deal with Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote) on May 4, and union negotiators led by President Buzz Hargrove pushed GM and Chrysler to terms that broadly matched the Ford contract.

"We just decided as a union that all we could do is lose if we sat around the hotel for another week or two," Hargrove told reporters.

"We see more dark clouds in the short-term on the horizon, especially if we didn't have our collective agreements in place."

The current agreements expire on September 16 at midnight.

General Motors shares closed 5.15 percent higher at $21.23.

Since 2005, the CAW has lost a third of its members at the Detroit-based automakers, who have responded to dwindling market share and a U.S. downturn by cutting jobs and closing factories.