BRIEFS - Toyota hiring temporary workers

• Toyota hiring temporary workers

TOKYO (AP):

Toyota said it will hire 3,000 to 4,000 temporary workers in Japan to be ready for a recovery in vehicle production as automakers bounce back from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Toyota Motor Corp will start recruiting the factory workers in July, as production is now gradually recovering and expected to surge by October, company spokesman Shigehiko Okamura said last Tuesday.

Production at Toyota and other Japanese automakers dived after the disaster because of a shortage of key parts from suppliers in the northeastern region devastated by the magnitude-9.0 quake.

• Chrysler, Fiat unions join network

MILAN (AP):

As the Fiat and Chrysler automakers go global, so do their unions.

Fiat and Chrysler unions worldwide last week agreed to join in a global network aimed at a constant flow of information and defining a common strategy. The unions said they may try to replicate a worldwide framework agreement for minimum union rights that exists at Volkswagen, Psa-Peugeot and Renault.

"The network is a signal to Fiat that the unions are united," Enzo Masini, auto coordinator at the FIOM union, said in a statement. "A global company requires a global union."

• Saab runs out of cash

STOCKHOLM (AP):

Saab, the Swedish car company renowned for its sometimes quirky designs, moved closer to bankruptcy Thursday after it conceded that it didn't have any money to pay employees' wages.

After months of production stoppages and problems with paying suppliers, Saab said the situation is so dire that it won't be able to pay its 3,700 employees, raising doubts over how long the brand can survive.

Its Dutch owner Swedish Automobile, previously known as Spyker Cars, has courted Chinese and Russian investors and put the Saab factory up for sale in its attempts to revive the brand it took over from General Motors Co last year.