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Author: Oropan |
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Date Posted: 12:20:23 04/25/07 Wed In reply to: sci guy 's message, "can you show proof those plants aren't unionized?" on 11:32:18 04/25/07 Wed Union seeks beachhead July 6, 2001: 3:50 p.m. ET Unionization of Toyota workers at Canadian plant would be a first By Staff Writer Chris Isidore NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A vote Friday may give the Canadian Auto Workers union a beachhead representing employees of a Toyota Motors Corp. assembly plant in Cambridge, Ontario, which would be the first time a union won such a vote at an overseas automaker's plant in North America. Various Japanese automakers now operate 14 plants in North America, and German automakers have two. None of those plants has union representation, unlike the 62 plants operated by the Big Three U.S.-based automakers, or the three joint-venture plants of U.S. and Japanese automakers, all of which are unionized. The Japanese automakers have been building many of their vehicles in North America for the better part of two decades, helping them make inroads into the U.S. market and reducing the clout of the CAW and United Auto Workers union. According to Autodata, a statistical service that follows the industry, about 1.6 million vehicles sold in the United States in the first six months of the year came from the transplant plants, equal to about 19 percent of industry sales. That compares with 2.3 million vehicles imported from Japan and sold here, and about 275,000 imported from Germany. The assembly line at the Toyota plant in Cambridge, Ontario, where workers voted Friday on whether they wanted to be represented by the Canadian Auto Workers union. The transplant facilities generally have better productivity than the Big Three plants. A union official charges some of that advantage comes at the cost of employees, who are denied a voice in how work is done and are subject to work speed-ups not seen by workers at unionized plants. He said that's a key driver behind Friday's union vote. "It's got the company shook up, challenging their basic foundation," said Paul Forder, the CAW's director of organizing. "Whether we win or lose, it's a strong condemnation of systems they have in place." A spokesman for the Toyota plant in Cambridge, near Toronto, said the company is confident that the union will not win the vote, and said it's possible that the Ontario Labor Relations Board, which is conducting the vote, will decide to void the election before the ballots are even counted. After voting ends early Saturday morning, the ballots are to be sealed without a count while the two sides submit arguments to the board as to which employees should be included in a potential bargaining unit, and whether the union has collected enough signatures to allow the vote counting to proceed. "The bar the union has to jump over to prompt a vote is not as high in Ontario as in the U.S.," said Greig Mordue, spokesman for the company. "The feeling here is it is better to have a quick vote, then worry about details of whether to proceed." Forder concedes that Toyota's pay scales already are in line with the CAW contracts at the Big Three plants there, although he said pension and some other benefits are not as good. He said the main issue prompting the organizing effort is worker rights issues. "It's health and safety, it's not having a real grievance procedure," Forder said. "They have this team system in place, but the workers don't have any voice. It's very patronizing in our view." Mordue said management is confident that workers support the team concept. It is pushing to have 455 team leaders included in the representation vote. The union opposes that, saying those individuals should be considered members of management, not rank-and-file. There are about 1,900 other production workers in the 12-year-old Cambridge plant. Management also is seeking to have about 200 students in the plant have a vote, which the union also opposes. The Cambridge plant makes the subcompact Corolla and the Camry Solara, and has the capacity of about 200,000 vehicles a year. It is slated to start making the Matrix, a cross-over vehicle between a car and sport/utility vehicle, in January, and the Lexus RX-300 starting in 2003, when capacity is set to increase 10 percent. According to the Harbour Reports, a well-regarded measure of auto plant efficiency published by Harbour & Associates, the Cambridge plant is the most efficient subcompact plant in North America, taking 17.73 hours to build a vehicle. The continent's most efficient plant is another non-union transplant, the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tenn., which takes 16.33 hours to build a vehicle. Nissan, Honda Motor Co. (HMC: down $2.55 to $88.25, Research, Estimates) and Toyota all ranked more efficient than the U.S.-based automakers. Click here for a look at automotive stocks But there are union plants among the industry's most efficient plants here, including the Atlanta plant that makes Ford Motor Co.'s (F: down $0.69 to $24.34, Research, Estimates) Taurus and takes only 16.93 hours per vehicle. A General Motors Corp. (GM: down $1.69 to $61.76, Research, Estimates) plant in Oshawa, Ontario, takes 17.54 hours to make the Impala and Monte Carlo. Mordue says the company does not believe productivity will be affected even if the union does win representation. "CAW has been courting our team members pretty hard for two years, and during that time its been business as usual," he said. http://money.cnn.com/2001/07/06/companies/toyota_union/ >(this I gotta see!) > > >>Toyota and honda and kia are building lots of plants >>here in the US too.....in the South where there are >>right to work states. People don't care much there for >>unions. I never cared much for GM and if they go out >>of business I could care less. Although some of the >>cars they are making now are equal in value to Toyota >>and their new diesel pickup is very very good. The >>Tundras are great but they want too much money for >>them. Anyway, we have a little surprise for all those >>foreign manufacturers of autos....a rapidly falling >>dollar that is going to make their autos too >>expensive. That is why they are quickly building new >>plants here in the southern US. >> >> >> >> >> >>>The union workers at those plants are happy enough. >>> >>>Maybe the problem GM has isn't so much with union >>>costs, but with the fact that people don't want to >buy >>>gas guzzlers any more.... >>> >>> >>>>Don't they make a bunch of those GM autos in Canada? >>>> >>>> >>>>>Yep, those US union auto workers are quickly >running >>>>>themselves out of a job! >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>href="http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/TopStories/ >C >>o >>>n >>>>t >>>>>e >>>>>>ntPosting.aspx?feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V2&showbyli >n >>e >>>= >>>>T >>>>>r >>>>>>ue&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20070424%2fToyota_GM_07042 >4 >>" >>>> >>>>h >>>>>t >>>>>>tp://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/TopStories/ContentP >o >>s >>>t >>>>i >>>>>n >>>>>>g.aspx?feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V2&showbyline=True& >n >>e >>>w >>>>s >>>>>i >>>>>>temid=CTVNews%2f20070424%2fToyota_GM_070424 >>>>>> >>>>>>Toyota tops GM in vehicle sales for first time >>>>>>24/04/2007 10:50:28 AM >>>>>> >>>>>>-------------------------------------------------- >- >>- >>>- >>>>- >>>>>- >>>>>>------------------------- >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. became the world's top >>>>auto >>>>>>seller in the first quarter, overtaking rival >>>General >>>>>>Motors Corp. for the first time. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>Visitors at Toyota Motor Corp.'s showroom look at >>>>>>Toyota's luxury car Lexus model in Tokyo on >>Tuesday, >>>>>>April 24, 2007. (AP / Shizuo Kambayashi) >>>>>> >>>>>>Toyota sold 2,348,000 vehicles worldwide in the >>>>>>January-March quarter, company spokesman Satoshi >>>>>>Yamaguchi said. >>>>>> >>>>>>Both companies posted record sales for the >quarter, >>>>>>but Toyota's sales passed the 2,260,000 vehicles >>>that >>>>>>GM said it sold during the same three-month >period. >>>>>> >>>>>>The results mark the first time Toyota has beat GM >>>in >>>>>>global sales on a quarterly basis, and bring the >>>>>>Japanese automaker one step closer to unseating >its >>>>>>American rival as the world's biggest automaker, a >>>>>>position the Detroit behemoth has held for 76 >>years. >>>>>> >>>>>>While the figures only represent quarterly sales >>>>>>results, they suggest GM will be fighting to hold >>>>onto >>>>>>its bragging rights as the world's foremost >>>>automaker, >>>>>>a claim usually staked on annual production >>figures. >>>>>> >>>>>>In 2006, Toyota's global output climbed 10 per >cent >>>>to >>>>>>9,018,000 vehicles. In contrast, GM produced >>>>9,180,000 >>>>>>vehicles worldwide -- a difference of about >>162,000. >>>>>> >>>>>>Analysts have been saying it is only a matter of >>>time >>>>>>before Toyota, which has been gaining steadily on >>>GM, >>>>>>eclipses its rival. >>>>>> >>>>>>GM, which sells cars and trucks under a dozen >>brands >>>>>>including Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Opel >and >>>>>>Saab, has seen its market share shrink in the >>United >>>>>>States even as it leads sales in China. >>>>>> >>>>>>GM has struggled to increase profit with job cuts >>>and >>>>>>plant closures as high fuel prices drove motorists >>>>>>away from gas-guzzling vehicles. >>>>>> >>>>>>Meanwhile Toyota has been expanding, thanks partly >>>to >>>>>>the popularity of its fuel-efficient cars, >>including >>>>>>the Camry, Corolla and Prius gas-electric hybrid. >>>>>> >>>>>>A copy of Toyota's "global master plan'' leaked to >>>>the >>>>>>media late last year calls for grabbing 15 per >cent >>>>of >>>>>>the world car market by 2010 in the company's >>>mission >>>>>>to surpass GM as the leading producer. >>>>>> >>>>>>But Toyota's pace of growth was slowed by some >>>>hurdles >>>>>>as vehicle recalls climbed to record levels in >>>recent >>>>>>years. >>>>>> >>>>>>Last year, the automaker recalled more than a >>>million >>>>>>vehicles in Japan and 760,000 in the United >States, >>>>>>raising fears the firm was stretching itself too >>>thin >>>>>>too fast. >>>>>> >>>>>>With files from The Associated Press [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |