Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove is pushing the federal government to take steps to help the "horrible situation" in the country's auto industry after Chrysler announced 1,000 job cuts worldwide.

Chrysler LLC said Wednesday it plans to cut 1,000 salaried jobs around the world by Sept. 30. Those cuts are expected to affect its Canadian operations, though it's unclear how many of the 1,000 salaried Chrysler employees in Canada may be affected.

"It would be expected that [Canadian employees] would be affected, but to what degree I can't say today," said Chrysler spokesman Dave Elshoff.

The announcement came a day after other job losses in the industry. Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will delay the startup of a third shift at an Oakville, Ont., plant that will leave 350 people who thought they were starting next week without a job.

"Every day now is more bad news in our industry," said Hargrove.

"It's a very stressful time for our union and especially our members and their families at GM, Ford, Chrysler and independent auto parts supplies now. It's just a horrible situation."

Chrysler said most cuts will be made through early retirements, attrition and buyouts, but layoffs are possible. The layoffs come on top of 3,000 white-collar cuts made by the company in 2007.

The company also plans to cut some of its 2,700 temporary workers, though it didn't release a number. About 1,100 were already cut in November.

Calls for partnership

Hargrove said the federal government has not recognized the problems affecting the industry and called for a partnership with Ottawa to deal with the challenge of reinvigorating the industry.

"We really need the feds to join with us in partnership to deal with the challenges that we face and try to bring in some programs that will help restore the strength of the industry," he said.

Though industry-wide U.S. vehicle sales were down 10 per cent in the first six months of this year, Chrysler marked a 22 per cent fall.

As gas prices rise and the U.S. economy weakens, customers have shunned trucks and sport utility vehicles in favour of smaller, fuel-efficient cars.

Chrysler was hit particularly hard since trucks and SUVs make up more than 70 per cent of the company's U.S. sales.

With files from the Canadian Press