Battle to save Toyota’s unionized California plant

[DainBramaged]

A battle is brewing to save the only automotive plant still operating on the west coast of the United States after General Motors pulled out of a joint operating venture with Toyota. The Japanese automaker has not yet announced whether it will continue to run the Fremont, California plant or phase it out and shift production of its popular Corolla sedan and Tacoma pickup truck elsewhere.

But it has warned that closing the plant is a distinct possibility as it struggles to cut costs after falling into the red for the first time in nearly 70 years, with a whopping 436.9 billion yen (4.6 billion dollars) net loss for the year ending in March. “We are carefully evaluating our options with respect to the NUMMI joint venture as a result of General Motors’ actions,” Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said.

“That could, but not necessarily would, involve closing the plant. But at this time there has been no determination.”

Toyota has never been responsible for closing an assembly plant anywhere in the world, so this could be a first for the world’s largest automaker. The decision could also have significant economic and political repercussions on both sides of the Pacific, particularly if Toyota decides to import vehicles to the United States, rather than build them at US facilities. Complicating matters is the fact that New United Motors Manufacturing Inc. is the only unionized Toyota plant in the United States and is located in the home state of powerful House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

http://rawstory.com/08/afp/2009/07/19/battle-to-save-toyotas-unionized-california-plant/

This one sentence is just typical of how the japanese auto industry works

There is also pressure inside the company to get out from under NUMMI’s labor contract with the United Auto Workers (UAW)

Of course, never mind the quality and quantity of the products, just kill the contract and get those low paid untrained workers in there, no one will notice.

The 5.3 million square foot facility near San Francisco employs 5,440 people and produces approximately 250,000 cars and 170,000 trucks,