After some nervous moments in the last three weeks, representatives of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union agreed to a new four-year labor contract with Chrysler, now owned by private capital group Cerberus Capital. The deal guarantees future work to much of Chrysler's workforce and hopefully puts to rest the October 10th six-hour walkout that's still fresh on the UAW's mind.

In reaching an agreement with Chrysler, the largest automotive union now can look forward to negotiating a deal with Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), as deals with General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler are now complete and in the books. The agreed-upon contract with Chrysler finally gained support at the plants that mattered, including the four larger Detroit-area car factories. Although some of the voting plants, such as a plant in Belvidere, Illinois, still had issues with the contract, the majority votes were enough to give it ratification as of late this weekend.

According to the UAW, roughly 56% of hourly workers and 51% of skilled trades workers approved the agreement as of this past Saturday evening. That's not a huge sweep of approval, but it was enough to put the negotiations to bed for the next four years.

At least for the next four years, Chrysler's union employees will have some sense of security as the automaker struggles to return to consistent positive performance under the ownership of a private set of investors. With Ford up next -- and obviously feeling pressure to mold a new agreement in the vein of the recent GM and Chrysler contracts -- the UAW still has its greatest test ahead.

Now that the United Autoworker's Union (UAW) is finished with General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) in terms of labor talks, next up to bat will be Chrysler LLC. The company is being acquired by private equity firm Cerberus Capital, but that's not stopping it from making vehicles and trying to dent into the domestic market share being rapidly enjoyed by Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM).

This past Sunday, the two parties began negotiating terms of a new labor agreement after nearly three weeks of stalling due to UAW's extension of Chrysler's existing contract so that the GM deal could be put to rest, which it was. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger now has his sights set on Chrysler and hopes that new ground can be broken with the Detroit automaker now that it has a new owner in a private investment firm (new blood, heh) along with the problem of slowing and stagnating sales -- a problem Chrysler has in common with GM and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F).

The broken-record syndrome currently facing all three domestic automakers is causing production plant idling and increased incentives to move out overloaded inventory just at a time when competitors like Toyota and Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) are increasing market share and are putting out highly competitive passenger vehicle models. Will Cerberus break new ground with its UAW labor talks that are significantly different from former parent Daimler (which still owns a 20% stake)? I'm thinking yes, or the company would not have bought the Chrysler brand for $7.4 billion in the first place.