The poor UAW and IUEW now

[Guns4Fun]

I almost feel sorry for them - NAH.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aFdr2fc23NRI



Toyota Will Shut California Plant in First Closure (Update3)
By Alan Ohnsman and Kae Inoue

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. will shut an assembly plant for the first time in its 72-year history after the failure of a joint venture with General Motors Corp.

New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont, California, will end production of Corolla cars and Tacoma pickups in March 2010, Toyota said in a statement. GM in June said it would end assembly of Pontiac Vibes at the plant, known as Nummi, and quit the venture as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.

A collapse in U.S. auto sales to the lowest level since 1976 has left Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, struggling to keep North American plants running at capacity. Closing the San Francisco Bay area plant, where Toyota President Akio Toyoda spent two years, compounds economic woes in California, suffering from an 11.9 percent unemployment rate.

“Toyota urgently needs to cut capacity as car demand isn’t going to return to its peak anytime soon,” said Yuuki Sakurai, chief executive officer of Fukoku Capital Management Inc. in Tokyo, which manages about 800 billion yen ($8.5 billion) in assets. “Nummi is unionized and expensive to operate. It’s a good decision.”
‘Devastating News’

Nummi employs 5,400 people, including 4,550 United Auto Workers union positions. More than 1,000 suppliers work with the factory, which has annual payroll and benefits of $523 million, according to a plant publication. Possible severance packages for the workers have not been decided on, according to Toyota spokesman Yuta Kaga. Nummi, set up as a joint venture, will decide whether to keep or shut the plant.

Toyota’s announcement “is devastating news for thousands of workers in California,” said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. “They deserve better than to be abandoned by this company.”

Toyota will shift production of Tacoma pickups to San Antonio and move Corollas to its factory in Ontario, Canada. The carmaker said it would consider hiring Nummi workers at other factories.

“Toyota will not be able to give priority to Nummi workers though,” Toyota Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi said on a conference call with reporters.

Toyota shares were unchanged at 4,040 yen in Tokyo. The shares have risen 39 percent so far this year, outpacing the 19 percent gain in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average.

U.S. Sales

Toyota’s sales in the U.S., its largest source of revenue, fell 38 percent in the first half, following a 15 percent decline last year. Toyota had a record 436.9 billion yen loss in the fiscal year that ended in March, its first in six decades, and forecasts an even bigger 450 billion yen loss in the current business year.

“By closing the plant and moving production to other factories, Toyota’s utilization rate in North America will improve,” said Masatoshi Nishimoto, an analyst at auto consulting company CSM Worldwide in Tokyo.

Nummi has the capacity to make 420,000 cars and pickups each year. It only made money in 1992, the result of California’s taxes and labor and pollution rules, as well as the plant’s UAW contracts, according to an estimate by Credit Suisse Group AG analyst.
Toyota has about 2 million units of capacity in the U.S. and about 10 million units globally. The Nummi closure will reduce capacity by about 400,000 units. Earlier this week, the carmaker said it will shut an assembly line at a domestic factory from 2010 to 2011.

West Coast

Shared by GM and Toyota since 1984, Nummi was Toyota’s first U.S. auto-assembly factory. It’s the only large auto- assembly plant on the U.S. West Coast.

“We continue work already in progress with the U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce, local government officials, Toyota, GM and the Japanese government to ensure appropriate employee severance, proper environmental remediation and assistance in transforming the site to alternative uses,” California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

GM was the factory’s sole owner from 1963 until 1982, when it closed the Fremont Assembly plant owing to escalating costs and labor conflicts with union workers. Toyota initially invested about $150 million to renovate the plant and GM contributed the property and original factory building to create the joint venture.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Tokyo at aohnsman@bloomberg.net; Kae Inoue in Tokyo at kinoue@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 28, 2009 02:24 EDT

[fingers80002]

Do you see any tears here? Nahhh..

Fuck the UAW..............

Fuck any Union for that matter.........

I hate them as much as the slime balls in DC....

[granuale]

I can't freaking believe Toyota is just abandoning those people. They should keep paying more and hire more people and give them all free medical care and pensions for life - and for their kids' lives. They're just a greedy corporation - they'll always have huge profits and just want to keep all the money for themselves. It's not like they could ever go bankru..........

[UnrealStunner]

Do you see any tears here? Nahhh..

Fuck the UAW..............

Fuck any Union for that matter.........

I hate them as much as the slime balls in DC....

BINGO

Want want want need need need $72Hr. Workers are BS The guys around here are lucky to hold on to there job doing the same kinda work making $17-$19Hr.

Ron Gettelfinger for all I care can lick a crusty rim. Hay Ron how much Money would workers have without the UAW..

[brian]

there was a time when unionized labor was needed to help the working man.
that time has long since past.

[Warpt762x39]

UAW=Unemployed Auto Workers

Unions can go fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned. Unions are one of the big problems in this country. Not the biggest but definitely up there.

[st.marys]

I remember doing a case study back in MBA School about the "NUMNI" plant. The Joint Venture was producing the Chevy Nova (the very later, compact type car). The plant in the early 90's was state of the art, and Toyota / GM invested big money in the operation. Then....the UAW came. Many unions, but NOT ALL, are there to protect the POS workers. Those that give an honest days work for an honest days pay in these days have no business being in a union. The "Market" decides what the price of labor should be. Me included. I have a Ford Expedition, and have owned Ford's for many years now, so don't go bashing me that I support the cheapo imports like Kia etc. However, I have been struggling lately to buy foreign since I am ready to trade in my Expedition cause I want an extended cab pickup truck. I've been pretty dedicated to the big 3, but the Unions are making me wonder why?

[autotech6506]

I have to say that unions served their purpose back in the day, but there is no need for them now. They've priced themselves out of their own markets.

[Warpt762x39]

I have to say that unions served their purpose back in the day, but there is no need for them now. They've priced themselves out of their own markets.

You can't outprice yourself from the market of greed and corruption. That's impossible.

[phill]

I have to say that unions served their purpose back in the day, but there is no need for them now. They've priced themselves out of their own markets.

My dad was a union carpenter and often said the same. From a water boy in the coal mine at 13 working 6-10hr. days to a carpenter foreman. By the way he was killed 51 yrs. ago in an accident on a job.