Production at Chrysler LLC’s Fenton pickup operations has been idled this week, a union official said today.

The plant, where the Dodge Ram is assembled, employs about 1,000 workers. Production is expected to restart next week, said Don Ackermann, vice president of United Auto Workers Local 136. The local union represents hourly workers at the pickup plant.

Automakers like Chrysler have been idling assembly plants for weeks at a time, as they try to align inventory with lower demand.

Sales of Chrysler’s Dodge Ram fell 27 percent, compared with March 2008, to 19,328 vehicles. Chrysler sold 46,619 Rams for the three months through March, a 32 percent drop from a year ago. The Ram also is made in Warren, Mich., and Saltillo, Mexico.