Wow, and double wow! Just a few hours after UAW officially went on strike against Chrysler LLC (click here) and the two parties announced that they reached a tentative agreement on a new national labor contract covering 45,000 represented employees. Even though the agreement is still subject to UAW member ratification, consider it a done deal. Terms of the new contract, were not immediately available but expect details to start coming out over the next few days (or maybe even hours…). Check out Chrysler’s official announcement after the jump. -Continued

Attribute to Tom LaSorda, Vice Chairman and President, Chrysler LLC

Auburn Hills, Mich., October 10, 2007

Chrysler LLC and the UAW have reached a tentative agreement on a new national labor contract, covering approximately 45,000 represented employees. The agreement is subject to UAW member ratification.

The tentative agreement includes a memorandum of understanding to establish an independent retiree health care trust, as well as other changes to the national agreement. Following ratification, implementation of the memorandum of understanding is subject to approval by the courts and satisfactory review of accounting treatment with the Securities Exchange Commission.

The national agreement is consistent with the economic pattern, and balances the needs of our employees and company by providing a framework to improve our long-term manufacturing competitiveness. At this time, we cannot discuss specifics of the agreement pending a ratification vote – an internal UAW process.