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Toyota to restart US auto plant, draws UAW ire
06-19-10, 02:07 PM
#1
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Toyota to restart US auto plant, draws UAW ire
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...5blewD9GDF7F80
Toyota to restart US auto plant, draws UAW ire
By DAN STRUMPF and TOM KRISHER (AP) – 1 day ago
Toyota's announcement that it will resume construction of a car factory in Mississippi was a much-needed piece of good news for both the state struggling with persistent unemployment and the automaker trying to recover some goodwill after a recall crisis bruised its reputation.
But the decision drew fire from America's largest auto union, which accused Toyota of shifting production from a union plant to a nonunion facility.
Toyota promised to hire 2,000 workers at its nearly complete factory in Blue Springs, Mississippi, and start producing Corolla sedans by the end of next year.
The plant has been on hold since late 2008, when Toyota suspended construction as the economy fell apart and sales of new cars and trucks collapsed in the U.S.
But Toyota's decision to build Corollas there comes just weeks after announcing the sale of a California plant that also built the compact sedans.
To the United Auto Workers Union, the key difference was the California plant was unionized, while the Mississippi plant — like the rest of Toyota's U.S. factories — isn't.
The California plant, called New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or NUMMI, was a joint venture with General Motors Co. Toyota closed its doors in April after GM pulled out of the venture under bankruptcy protection last year.
UAW President Bob King pledged to step up efforts to organize nonunion workers at Toyota factories and those run by other foreign automakers in the U.S. King, who was elected to head the union this week, used his acceptance speech on Thursday to accuse Toyota of shifting jobs to a location where it can pay lower, nonunion wages. He also said the move was designed to scare workers at Toyota's other U.S. factories.
"We're going to pound on Toyota until they recognize the First Amendment rights of those workers to come into the UAW," King said at the UAW national convention in Detroit.
King pledged a banner campaign at Toyota dealerships to tell customers that Toyota puts profits before people.
The mood was more sanguine among residents of the Mississippi locale hosting the factory. During a celebration hosted by the automaker in Blue Springs, near Tupelo, the crowd cheered whenever Gov. Haley Barbour or Toyota executives spoke. Barbour called the early morning phone call he received informing him of Toyota's decision to open the plant "the best wake-up call I ever had."
"It's a great day for everybody in Mississippi," he added.
The factory will bring badly needed jobs to Mississippi, where the unemployment rate stood at 10.7 percent in April, the most recent figure available. The rates in the three-county area around the plant are all slightly higher.
Union County Supervisor Benny Rakestraw, among several hundred at the celebration, said the plant is going to help the local economy in his county, which lost a furniture plant last week.
"This means everything. It's going to help the economy come back. It is just amazing," Rakestraw said.
King's attacks against Toyota follow an election in which critics accused him and predecessor Ron Gettelfinger of making too many wage and benefit concessions to automakers when they restructured last year.
Toyota denied King's contention that it was not looking out for its workers.
"Our goal is to provide a safe work environment and good pay and benefits, and we work hard to manage our business with employment stability in mind," said Toyota spokesman Mike Goss. "Any decision about representation is up to our team members, not the company."
Goss said that Toyota closed NUMMI, which employed 4,700 people, because it could not afford to run the plant alone after GM withdrew. He said labor costs were not a significant factor. Toyota sold the plant last month to Silicon Valley startup Tesla Motors Inc.
Toyota also said a revival in the auto market is behind its decision to restart construction at the Mississippi plan. Toyota's announcement came the same day that General Motors Co. said it planned to keep most of its factories in the U.S. open through the normal two-week summer shutdown to meet higher demand.
The Detroit company said keeping open nine of its 11 assembly pants open will allow it to build 56,000 high-demand vehicles.
Thursday's announcement that the Mississippi plant will build Corollas — Toyota's No. 2 seller in the U.S., behind the Camry — marks yet another shift in plans for the plant. Initially, Toyota wanted to build Highlander SUVs there. But in mid 2008, as fuel prices soared above $4 a gallon and hybrid sales soared, Toyota said the plant would produce the Prius instead.
The plant should be flexible enough to build both Corollas and Priuses if Toyota chooses to build both models there, said Erich Merkle, president of the consulting firm Autoconomy.com. Toyota said the Mississippi site will build 150,000 Corollas a year. Toyota currently builds Corollas at factories in Ontario and Japan.
According to Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota North America, more than 30 million Corollas have been sold worldwide since the vehicle was introduced in 1966. He said north Mississippi was selected as the plant site because it is centrally located to suppliers. Toyota officials also credited the skilled work force in a region that was once a strong furniture-making market.
The state committed $294 million to the project to assist with site preparation, infrastructure and training.
Toyota has been working to patch up its reputation in the U.S. following its recalls of more than 8 million vehicles over reports of unintended acceleration.
U.S. authorities slapped Toyota with a record $16.4 million fine for acting too slowly on the recalls. Toyota dealers have so far installed fixes on millions of vehicles, but the automaker still faces more than 200 lawsuits tied to accidents, the resale value of Toyota vehicles and the drop in the company's stock.
After its recalls, the company announced a slate of generous incentives designed to revive sales, including zero-percent financing across most models and two years of free maintenance. The promotions sent Toyota sales soaring in March and April, but sales last month lagged the industry.
Toyota's sales are up 10.5 percent in the U.S. so far this year, according to Autodata Corp. But that lags industrywide gains of 17.2 percent. Still, for the fiscal year ended March 31, the automaker made a profit following the worst loss in its history the previous year.
By DAN STRUMPF and TOM KRISHER (AP) – 1 day ago
Toyota's announcement that it will resume construction of a car factory in Mississippi was a much-needed piece of good news for both the state struggling with persistent unemployment and the automaker trying to recover some goodwill after a recall crisis bruised its reputation.
But the decision drew fire from America's largest auto union, which accused Toyota of shifting production from a union plant to a nonunion facility.
Toyota promised to hire 2,000 workers at its nearly complete factory in Blue Springs, Mississippi, and start producing Corolla sedans by the end of next year.
The plant has been on hold since late 2008, when Toyota suspended construction as the economy fell apart and sales of new cars and trucks collapsed in the U.S.
But Toyota's decision to build Corollas there comes just weeks after announcing the sale of a California plant that also built the compact sedans.
To the United Auto Workers Union, the key difference was the California plant was unionized, while the Mississippi plant — like the rest of Toyota's U.S. factories — isn't.
The California plant, called New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or NUMMI, was a joint venture with General Motors Co. Toyota closed its doors in April after GM pulled out of the venture under bankruptcy protection last year.
UAW President Bob King pledged to step up efforts to organize nonunion workers at Toyota factories and those run by other foreign automakers in the U.S. King, who was elected to head the union this week, used his acceptance speech on Thursday to accuse Toyota of shifting jobs to a location where it can pay lower, nonunion wages. He also said the move was designed to scare workers at Toyota's other U.S. factories.
"We're going to pound on Toyota until they recognize the First Amendment rights of those workers to come into the UAW," King said at the UAW national convention in Detroit.
King pledged a banner campaign at Toyota dealerships to tell customers that Toyota puts profits before people.
The mood was more sanguine among residents of the Mississippi locale hosting the factory. During a celebration hosted by the automaker in Blue Springs, near Tupelo, the crowd cheered whenever Gov. Haley Barbour or Toyota executives spoke. Barbour called the early morning phone call he received informing him of Toyota's decision to open the plant "the best wake-up call I ever had."
"It's a great day for everybody in Mississippi," he added.
The factory will bring badly needed jobs to Mississippi, where the unemployment rate stood at 10.7 percent in April, the most recent figure available. The rates in the three-county area around the plant are all slightly higher.
Union County Supervisor Benny Rakestraw, among several hundred at the celebration, said the plant is going to help the local economy in his county, which lost a furniture plant last week.
"This means everything. It's going to help the economy come back. It is just amazing," Rakestraw said.
King's attacks against Toyota follow an election in which critics accused him and predecessor Ron Gettelfinger of making too many wage and benefit concessions to automakers when they restructured last year.
Toyota denied King's contention that it was not looking out for its workers.
"Our goal is to provide a safe work environment and good pay and benefits, and we work hard to manage our business with employment stability in mind," said Toyota spokesman Mike Goss. "Any decision about representation is up to our team members, not the company."
Goss said that Toyota closed NUMMI, which employed 4,700 people, because it could not afford to run the plant alone after GM withdrew. He said labor costs were not a significant factor. Toyota sold the plant last month to Silicon Valley startup Tesla Motors Inc.
Toyota also said a revival in the auto market is behind its decision to restart construction at the Mississippi plan. Toyota's announcement came the same day that General Motors Co. said it planned to keep most of its factories in the U.S. open through the normal two-week summer shutdown to meet higher demand.
The Detroit company said keeping open nine of its 11 assembly pants open will allow it to build 56,000 high-demand vehicles.
Thursday's announcement that the Mississippi plant will build Corollas — Toyota's No. 2 seller in the U.S., behind the Camry — marks yet another shift in plans for the plant. Initially, Toyota wanted to build Highlander SUVs there. But in mid 2008, as fuel prices soared above $4 a gallon and hybrid sales soared, Toyota said the plant would produce the Prius instead.
The plant should be flexible enough to build both Corollas and Priuses if Toyota chooses to build both models there, said Erich Merkle, president of the consulting firm Autoconomy.com. Toyota said the Mississippi site will build 150,000 Corollas a year. Toyota currently builds Corollas at factories in Ontario and Japan.
According to Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota North America, more than 30 million Corollas have been sold worldwide since the vehicle was introduced in 1966. He said north Mississippi was selected as the plant site because it is centrally located to suppliers. Toyota officials also credited the skilled work force in a region that was once a strong furniture-making market.
The state committed $294 million to the project to assist with site preparation, infrastructure and training.
Toyota has been working to patch up its reputation in the U.S. following its recalls of more than 8 million vehicles over reports of unintended acceleration.
U.S. authorities slapped Toyota with a record $16.4 million fine for acting too slowly on the recalls. Toyota dealers have so far installed fixes on millions of vehicles, but the automaker still faces more than 200 lawsuits tied to accidents, the resale value of Toyota vehicles and the drop in the company's stock.
After its recalls, the company announced a slate of generous incentives designed to revive sales, including zero-percent financing across most models and two years of free maintenance. The promotions sent Toyota sales soaring in March and April, but sales last month lagged the industry.
Toyota's sales are up 10.5 percent in the U.S. so far this year, according to Autodata Corp. But that lags industrywide gains of 17.2 percent. Still, for the fiscal year ended March 31, the automaker made a profit following the worst loss in its history the previous year.
06-19-10, 03:08 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
According to Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota North America, said north Mississippi was selected as the plant site because it is centrally located to suppliers.
Mississippi was, with about 99% certainty, chosen because of its traditonally low wages, some of the lowest in the country. The truth, though, is that California, for many reasons, is a notoriously expensive place to locate and do buisness.
Goss said that Toyota closed NUMMI, which employed 4,700 people, because it could not afford to run the plant alone after GM withdrew.
And Toyota is not the only automotive firm to recently move out of CA either, Nissan U.S.A. moved their national HQ, a few years ago, to TN because of the high cost of staying in CA.
He said labor costs were not a significant factor.
Toyota officials also credited the skilled work force in a region that was once a strong furniture-making market.
Last edited by mmarshall; 06-19-10 at 03:23 PM.
06-19-10, 03:29 PM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
Is the Union right or wrong here?
Right
Wrong
Undecided
Right
Wrong
Undecided
06-19-10, 03:44 PM
#5
Moderator: LFA, Clubhouse
Unions are, as usual, implicitly wrong. Unions think they can demand higher wages and "better" working conditions from companies and not have them simply move away, just like states somehow think they can raise taxes on their residents and not have them move away to other states.
Meanwhile, the same union actually complains about a company moving production into the United States from overseas and creating jobs here.
Meanwhile, the same union actually complains about a company moving production into the United States from overseas and creating jobs here.
06-19-10, 05:00 PM
#6
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The UAW can suck a nut. Toyota just invested 50 million in Tesla, who as far as I understand, will be producing cars at NUMMI. What more do they want? They could have shut it down completely. With the kind of problems that the UAW causes for auto manufacturers, why would anyone want a unionized work force?
06-19-10, 05:33 PM
#7
Recovering Lexus Addict
The UAW was lucky that NUMMI was formed in 1984 and they re-opened the closed GM Fremont assembly plant. I remember my dad talking about possibly transferring to that plant in the early 60s.
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06-19-10, 07:00 PM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
Unions are, as usual, implicitly wrong. Unions think they can demand higher wages and "better" working conditions from companies and not have them simply move away, just like states somehow think they can raise taxes on their residents and not have them move away to other states.
Meanwhile, the same union actually complains about a company moving production into the United States from overseas and creating jobs here.
Meanwhile, the same union actually complains about a company moving production into the United States from overseas and creating jobs here.
"We're going to pound on Toyota until they recognize the First Amendment rights of those workers to come into the UAW," King said at the UAW national convention in Detroit.
Last edited by mmarshall; 06-19-10 at 07:18 PM.
06-19-10, 09:16 PM
#10
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King, who was elected to head the union this week, used his acceptance speech on Thursday to accuse Toyota of shifting jobs to a location where it can pay lower, nonunion wages.
more like he doesn't want to lose millions of $ of union dues from the workers they lost in NUMMI.
Last edited by shyguy16; 06-20-10 at 08:42 AM.
06-19-10, 10:27 PM
#11
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Not every union in this country has done the horrific things that the UAW has done to our economy, and it is not fair to associate the term "union" with the demise of our economy. The manufacturing base has eroded as many of the manufacturers of automobiles have been forced to cowtow to the UAW's demands that their status quo remain as such, but this has not directly translated into other areas of manufacturing. The manufacturing base has been affected by non-union employees unwillingness to adapt and learn as their jobs became less specialized and more efficient through the use of streamlining processes. The economy has been largely based on manufacturing prowess, and we simply lost our way in this as China and India's vastly larger populations have made workers available that have an understanding that their unskilled positions are not going to pay as well as those that are paying better. Is this the fault of the unions? To a certain extent, I can see how this could be blamed on them, but there are unions that still do good work and fight for safe conditions for their employees. They also fight for the consumers who end up with their products. I am speaking toward the unions involved in construction. They continuously update the codes and regulations that they see needing changes in, and this cannot be construed as a bad thing. It promotes safe work, it promotes better quality, and it protects consumers in the long run from getting a home or working in an office that is not safe.
I was literally just having a discussion with a colleague of mine about this tonight (not the UAW, but the labor force in general), and it was a sore subject. We as a country have allowed many changes to overtake us, and our leadership, both republicans and democrats, has not tried to lead the majority toward the path. Instead, they have all tried to line their pockets with "right now" money - worrying about the future is someone else's job. This goes toward the idea that we get the government we deserve. Since this is largely off topic, I'll end on that, but it's certainly something to think about.
Big Mack
06-20-10, 12:02 AM
#12
Moderator: LFA, Clubhouse
As stated in the article, Corollas are currently only being manufactured in other countries - so the 150,000 Corollas per year that Toyota plans to build here will in fact shift production to the United States.
06-20-10, 12:03 AM
#13
And unions are grossly unfair.
And the construction unions are destroying the construction industry. Watch what will happen to construction unions by next year - hint, hint, they are about to starve.
Not every union in this country has done the horrific things that the UAW has done to our economy, and it is not fair to associate the term "union" with the demise of our economy. The manufacturing base has eroded as many of the manufacturers of automobiles have been forced to cowtow to the UAW's demands that their status quo remain as such, but this has not directly translated into other areas of manufacturing. The manufacturing base has been affected by non-union employees unwillingness to adapt and learn as their jobs became less specialized and more efficient through the use of streamlining processes. The economy has been largely based on manufacturing prowess, and we simply lost our way in this as China and India's vastly larger populations have made workers available that have an understanding that their unskilled positions are not going to pay as well as those that are paying better. Is this the fault of the unions? To a certain extent, I can see how this could be blamed on them, but there are unions that still do good work and fight for safe conditions for their employees. They also fight for the consumers who end up with their products. I am speaking toward the unions involved in construction. They continuously update the codes and regulations that they see needing changes in, and this cannot be construed as a bad thing. It promotes safe work, it promotes better quality, and it protects consumers in the long run from getting a home or working in an office that is not safe.
06-20-10, 01:41 AM
#14
Lexus Champion
I too am not fond of worker unions. I'm sorry to the socialists out there but I don't agree with them. Sorry
As Margaret Thatcher said:
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money."
As Margaret Thatcher said:
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money."
06-20-10, 06:53 AM
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In areas where they go uncontrolled, I agree. All unions are subject to some bad apples, but I don't think it's fair to say that all unions are bad. It simply isn't.
I'm sure you feel this way for a reason, but you're wrong on this. The construction unions weren't the ones destroying the construction industry. The financial people who decided that every stick they put into a home was now worth 3 times the amount without an extra penny in cost from labor are what crippled the industry. Pushing the assessors, lenders, and banks to promote "products" that got people who have no business owning a home crippled the industry. Are there bad members and bad practices in some of the construction industry? Absolutely, but to say that the unions are destroying it unilaterally is not only unfair, it's patently false. Without these unions fighting for updates in construction codes and learning new materials, housing today would be no better built than it was 40 years ago, and that would be bad for all of us.
The UAW, for all intents and purposes, has done it's job - but that job is now over. No one could argue they need better wages, more controls on their retirement, or safer working conditions. There are now laws in place that protect all these things and rightfully so. At this point, the leadership of the UAW needs to forge partnerships with companies, not point fingers or 'create' news stories in order to remain relevant. The leadership needs to recognize that not only do they not have nearly as much "work" to do for their employees, but they have to work in different ways. The companies should have every right to become more efficient without having to justify it to a union when they purchase a machine that does a job better than the men or women doing it and will yield a better product. This is called progress, and it's time the UAW learned how to work within the system. Start working with manufacturers that build machines like this to train them how to repair or operate them - that would be beneficial to employees, but they would have to be willing to listen and learn. Gone are the days of having one skill, working as many hours as your body could handle, and going back the next day to the same monotonous task. This is where the UAW has failed their members, IMO. They should be requiring them to cross train and learn new skills if they want to bargain from a position of top labor for top dollars. I know they are working toward this, but their feet were stuck in concrete for too long when the transitions started and they fought from the worst position - catch up. Time to pay the piper.
Big Mack
The UAW, for all intents and purposes, has done it's job - but that job is now over. No one could argue they need better wages, more controls on their retirement, or safer working conditions. There are now laws in place that protect all these things and rightfully so. At this point, the leadership of the UAW needs to forge partnerships with companies, not point fingers or 'create' news stories in order to remain relevant. The leadership needs to recognize that not only do they not have nearly as much "work" to do for their employees, but they have to work in different ways. The companies should have every right to become more efficient without having to justify it to a union when they purchase a machine that does a job better than the men or women doing it and will yield a better product. This is called progress, and it's time the UAW learned how to work within the system. Start working with manufacturers that build machines like this to train them how to repair or operate them - that would be beneficial to employees, but they would have to be willing to listen and learn. Gone are the days of having one skill, working as many hours as your body could handle, and going back the next day to the same monotonous task. This is where the UAW has failed their members, IMO. They should be requiring them to cross train and learn new skills if they want to bargain from a position of top labor for top dollars. I know they are working toward this, but their feet were stuck in concrete for too long when the transitions started and they fought from the worst position - catch up. Time to pay the piper.
Big Mack