So the unions won a round—but very belatedly and only by a hair. That same year the mighty Chrysler Corporation declared itself on the brink of bankruptcy and appealed to President Jimmy Carter for an emergency bailout loan. The taxpayer loan was granted, but only under the condition that the labor unions representing Chrysler employees, primarily the United Auto Workers, agreed to substantial cuts in pay and benefits. Determined to preserve jobs, the UAW conceded; from the Chrysler bailout deal, then, was born the "concession bargaining" system that still dominated union contract talks a decade later.