Toyota Workers Resist Unionization (1-21-2008)

The United Auto Workers (UAW) has, $1.2 billion in assets, 576,000 members and collects almost $200 million a year in dues.   Toyota employee Brian Howard is fighting a fierce campaign against the union, paying for his "NoUAW.com" Web site out of his own pocket.

The UAW has been trying to organize workers at Toyota's Georgetown, Kentucky plant for 20 years. "The media tries to portray it like it's big, bad Toyota preventing the union," Howard said. "No, it's people like me."

He's winning, and so is Toyota, which last year passed GM in sales for the first time. Workers are winning too - Toyota wages have now passed UAW wages for the first time - $30 an hour to $27 (including bonuses).

"When I tell people where I work, they say, 'You guys have got it made,'" said Howard, a former tax examiner who been with Toyota 17 years. With bonuses and overtime, "Making $70,000 is very common," he said. "A lot make $90,000 to $100,000 a year."

Fewer than 20 percent of Toyota workers would vote to join the UAW, he said. "Hard-core, dead-set against it, I'd say 40 percent or more." "The UAW knows they do not have and will never have the votes to win an election," says Howard's co-worker Marvin Robbins. "So they want to take the rights of the workers away and not have an election."

Robbins and Howard have been mocked and threatened on the union's Web site. But they have raised money for a billboard and newspaper ad because a lot of what the UAW says "is just not true," Howard says.   "If we provide these (Toyota) team members with factual information, they will make the right decision," he said.

"The majority are sick of the harassment," Robbins said. "You would think the UAW would get the message after 20 years, but they are so desperate for membership they continue to show up where they are clearly not wanted or needed."

The UAW is desperate to expand its reach beyond U.S. automakers.  With downsizing by U.S. automakers, UAW membership dropped 11 percent in 2005 and 3.4 percent in 2006. So the UAW is trying to recruit 7,000 workers in Georgetown, or trash Toyota to hurt sales, Howard says.

Union front groups such as Toyota Owners for Fairness and Jobs With Justice protest and hold "hearings" to hear only the pro-union side. At the Toyota Workers Rights Hearing in Georgetown last summer, four pro-union workers "drew considerable local media attention," according to the UAW.

But two had been fired by Toyota, one had quit, and the fourth could not back up her complaints. The panel was pro-union politicians and activists; several had taken contributions from the UAW, Howard pointed out in a newspaper ad purchased with local donations.

Union intimidation has taken on a new face.  Unions no longer have to send head breakers to rough up workers because they can use the media to rough up the reputation of non-union companies. They call it a "corporate campaign," and the attacks on Toyota look just like union attacks on Wal-Mart and Cintas of Cincinnati.

Howard says the press is sympathetic to unions. "They quote all these accusations by the UAW, and put in one generic comment by me. If they're giving them three paragraphs, I'd like three paragraphs too."  His NoUAW.com campaign is not encouraged or supported by Toyota, he said.

But Toyota management has played a role with a positive and proactive labor relations program.  The Company believes that attendance is linked to quality, and holds an annual Perfect Attendance party for workers with Jay Leno, David Copperfield or the Beach Boys, and give away 14 new cars as incentive rewards.

Toyota has an on-site pharmacy, clinic, day-care and fitness club. Toyota's 6.3 percent injury rate is half the industry average for mostly UAW plants.

And Toyota managers meet monthly to listen to workers, who call each other "team members," not "shop rats."

The UAW has been unable to get even half of Toyota's Georgetown workers to sign cards in support. But the union could win anyway if Congress eliminates secret ballots.

The "Employee Free Choice Act" introduced by Democrats and endorsed by all of the Democratic presidential candidates, would force companies to accept a union if 51 percent of workers sign cards in support. And it's too easy to bully workers into signing cards.  The temptation to get signatures by intimidation will be almost irresistible if signatures are all that is needed to be certified as the workers' representative.

In a 2001 battle at a Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tenn., 70 percent of the workers signed cards for the UAW. But when they voted by secret ballot, the UAW lost by two to one.

In the 1980s, American automakers complained that American workers would never accept the Japanese management style, and this gave Japanese automakers the ability to force quality standards on the workers that American workers would never accept.  But as Japanese automakers increasingly build their products in American plants with American workers, it is increasingly clear that the problem is not the workers, it is the union.

Japanese automakers build factories in places like Georgetown, away from pro-union cities. A new $550 million Honda Civic factory in Greensburg, Ind., just west of Cincinnati, drew a hiring circle that intentionally excluded hundreds of unemployed UAW members.

The cost of UAW benefits adds $1,500 to $2,300 to every union-built car. "I definitely have concerns that quality would suffer if the UAW comes in," Howard said.

COUNSEL TO MANAGEMENT:

Toyota stands as an object lesson of how a proactive management approach to labor relations can contribute to the bottom line.  The key to Toyota's success has been a management commitment to quality, safety, and labor relations.  The Company pays competitive wages and benefits, and has a labor relations program that treats workers as the core of the Company's success.  Communication between workers and management is a high priority, and the payoff has been significant in terms of improved safety, quality, and attendance.

Meanwhile, the U.S. "big three" automakers, all with a long history of union representation, continue to struggle with quality and sales. 

Employers should consult with labor relations experts on implementing proactive approaches to labor relations, safety, and public relations, and should be prepared to take a strong stance in support of their workers' right to vote on whether to be represented by unions.  Let your industry associations know that oppressive legislation like the Employee Free Choice Act and SB 180 take important rights away from workers, and encourage them to oppose such legislation.  Tell them about Toyota, Brian Howard, and NoUAW.com.

The goal of this article is to provide employers with current labor and employment law information. The contents should neither be interpreted as, nor construed as legal advice or opinion. The reader should consult with Saqui & Raimondo at (831) 443-7100 in Salinas, or (916) 782-8555 in Sacramento for individual responses to questions or concerns regarding any given situation.