Posted on 01/30/2010 5:51:21 PM PST by SmithL
FREMONT -- Leaders of a United Auto Workers local answered questions from skeptical members Saturday about why it was taking so long to negotiate the final payments to the 4,700 people who will lose their jobs when New United Motor Manufacturing in Fremont shuts down April 1.
The atmosphere in the packed union hall across from the Nummi plant was calm, in contrast to the anger that erupted into cursing and shoving Jan. 24. Rank-and-file members harangued leaders that day for conducting a campaign against Toyota over the impending closure while not going after General Motors, which jointly operated the plant with the Japanese automaker from 1984 to last year.
GM set the stage for the shutdown in June when it abruptly withdrew from the Nummi partnership as part of its bankruptcy filing. Toyota sealed the plant's fate when it announced in August that it would also halt production at the end of March.
UAW Local 2244 President Sergio Santos heard speakers during Saturday's two-hour meeting demand that the union finalize negotiations on what Nummi management calls a "retention agreement" rather than a severance package.
The proposal would link workers' departure payouts to the continued, smooth operation of the factory through its closing.
Santos said the local is holding out for more than the roughly $50,000 to $60,000 maximum that the company is offering based on length of service, and hopes to secure medical coverage for those laid off.
But union official Juan Castillo, a member of the local's executive committee who is critical of Santos, said the delay weakens workers' bargaining position as the closure date draws near.
It also prolongs the uncertainty about how much support workers can expect when the plant does close, Castillo said.
Nummi Vice President Tetsuro Hitoshi turned up the pressure in a memo
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Now workers oppose management and they oppose management.
Looks like an open admission of extortion to me.
Don’t give them a dime. I wouldn’t buy a car from that plant now. Cars will be low quality.
Looks like an open admission of extortion to me.
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Hardly. Plenty of businesses that close- union or nonunion- agree to payments to ensure that workers stay until the end.
Since they know the end is near, smart employees are already looking for new opportunities and would be tempted to quit in advance of the closing if they find something else.
Bulldoze the whole plant and build a Worker’s Party memorial dedicated to Obama there instead.
In a state with virtually non-existent manufacturing and 12% unemployment they should be happy to still be getting a check instead of turning down a bonus of $60K for three months. I have never met an engineer who was treated that well.
In a state with virtually non-existent manufacturing and 12% unemployment
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Those are certainly factors that got to be considered in determining the amount of any retention bonuses.
The products will be trash. Better to close it pay them some severance and drag out the law suits forever.
keep it up and you’ll get ugotz .
“Rank-and-file members harangued leaders that day for conducting a campaign against Toyota over the impending closure while not going after General Motors, which jointly operated the plant with the Japanese automaker from 1984 to last year.”
You poor idiot union ninnies....
GM is already unionized, while Toyata IS NOT.
Looks like an open admission of extortion to me.
No, this isn't the union making this a part of the proposal, it's the company. The company wants to make sure the workers actually work and the shop isn't robbed bare, so the severance package (by any other name) is tied to those things.
It looks to me like it's the workers telling the union that the company's offer isn't enough.
The company wants to make sure the workers actually work and the shop isn't robbed bare, so the severance package (by any other name) is tied to those things.
Uh, vandalism is a crime, just as a deliberate slow-down while getting paid for full production is theft. The need for "buy them off or get robbed" IS extortion.
Yes, but it is probably less costly for the company to have the workers come in this Monday A.M. to a lockout. Pay them for the time they have worked plus normal severance and get someone else to come in and ship all the inventory and work in progress somewhere else.
The company is being generous, and the union is holding out for more.
Perhaps Toyota has realized that the game is fixed in the United States, and that it does not pay to invest in a banana republic, where the rules of the game constantly change.
Notice that nobody is dumping money into Russia, either. Russia is also being run by gangsters, which scares investors away.
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