Detroit 3 Automakers Pledge $26 Million To Support City Pensions, Help Save Art Treasures

Source: Associated Press

By Corey Williams, The Associated Press on June 9, 2014.

DETROIT – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are driving into Detroit’s bankruptcy reorganization by pledging $26 million to help support retiree pensions while keeping the city’s art treasures off the auction block, officials announced Monday.

The money will go toward city pensions and will be part of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ $100 million commitment to what’s being called the “grand bargain” to resolve the largest public bankruptcy in U.S. history. It’s helping keep city-owned pieces in the museum off the auction block as some creditors demand they be sold to pay off some of Detroit’s billions in debt.

Of the $26 million, $10 million will come from Ford Motor Co., $6 million from Chrysler Group LLC, $5 million from General Motors Co. and $5 million from the General Motors Foundation.

“The city needs more and specifically the city needs cash,” Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales for Chrysler, said during the announcement at the museum.

Read more: http://lethbridgeherald.com/news/world-news/2014/06/09/detroit-3-automakers-pledge-26-million-to-support-city-pensions-help-save-art-treasures/