The struggling auto giant Chrysler has announced plans to close all thirty of its North American plants for one month. The company says workers will be able to supplement lost income through state unemployment and supplemental unemployment benefits. While all 46,000 unionized workers won’t see a paycheck, Chrysler will continue to pay top management. Chrysler engineer Dan Klein said he hopes to return to work.

Dan Klein: “I’d rather go to work. I’ve been there seventeen years, like I said, and I believe I missed one day for having a stroke. And my father worked there for forty-three-and-a-half years and only missed five days.”

The Wall Street Journal reports Chrysler has also revived talks with General Motors about a possible merger. Meanwhile, the Ford auto company says it will shut down ten North American assembly plants for an extra week in January.