WSJ: Toyota to Pay $250 Million to Close California Plant (only because it is a unionized plant)

[Omaha Steve]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703909804575123941856957282.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_business

By KATE LINEBAUGH

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it will pay $250 million to the salaried and hourly employees of a California assembly plant slated to close at the end of the month.

The funding is subject to ongoing negotiations between the plant's owner, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or Nummi, and the United Auto Workers, which represents the hourly employees, according to a statement from Toyota. About 4,600 people work at the factory, the state's last car-assembly plant, which makes the Corolla sedan and Tacoma pickup.

Toyota in August decided to end production at the Fremont, Calif., factory, which is a joint venture between the Japanese auto maker and General Motors Co. GM pulled out of the venture last year as it went through bankruptcy and is liquidating its stake.

"Toyota's decision to end its production contract with Nummi as of April 1 was difficult but necessary, given GM's abandonment of Nummi," said Jim Wiseman, group vice president of Toyota Motor North America. "Regrettably, our decision is final."

FULL story at link.

[pipoman]

1. My feeling on this

is that this closing is as much to the fault of the State of California, including the cost of doing business in Cali from a compliance standpoint, and the cost of living there. It is quite telling, "the state's last car-assembly plant", now I don't know how many there were, but where did they all go? Likely where all the rest of the manufacturing went which used to be in Cali.

This is also a bit of a sticky wicket for the big 3 apologists who often like to criticize the import name plates who are building plants in the states, while the big 3 are building plants in 3rd world countries.

I only wish that dems and pugs alike had not sold the collective bargaining ability of labor to the industrial bosses in the form of "free trade agreements" which made it a violation to penalize employers who choose to move manufacturing facilities to "emerging markets" with no employee protections...of coarse 'no employee protections' pretty much renders the term 'emerging markets', while describing these 3rd world economies, an oxymoron..