The other day I wrote about the huge impact from California’s Toyota NUMMI plant closing,
Toyota takes off with a ton of cash, we pay the costs, it’s the way the system is set up — by us.
… When the plant closes the public takes up the costs — paying unemployment, for example, for the up-to-50,000 people expected to become unemployed. The Federal Government will pick up the costs of the workers’ pensions.
Bob Herbert, Workers Crushed by Toyota,
California has been very, very good to Toyota. It is one of the largest markets in the world for the popular Prius hybrid. Nearly 18 percent of all Toyotas sold in the U.S. are sold in California. The state has showered the company with benefits, including large-scale infrastructure improvements for its operations and millions of dollars for worker training. California is one of the key reasons that Toyota is the wealthiest carmaker on the planet.
Toyota is paying the state back with the foulest form of ingratitude.
. . . It is a cold and irresponsible act on Toyota’s part, a decision that was not necessary from a business standpoint and that completely disregards the wave of human misery it is setting in motion.
There were efforts to persuade Toyota to keep the profitable plant open in the region that buys the most Toyotas, but that ain’t happening. NUMMI Workers Ratify Plant Closing Package,
UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles praised members of the Local 2244 bargaining committee for their hard work and solidarity.
We are all deeply saddened to see these operations come to an end. While this is not the outcome we had hoped for, the terms of this agreement will certainly help cushion the impact for our members.
UAW Region 5 Director Jim Wells says the NUMMI workers’ solidarity and support from the union movement helped the workers through a difficult time.
There are so many ripple effects. City of Fremont prepares for NUMMI closure’s ripple effects
But the stakes were large for the Bay Area’s fourth-largest city. Losing a 5.3 million-square-foot facility that produces thousands of Toyota Corollas and Tacoma trucks will mean a $2 million drop in property tax revenue for Fremont. The layoffs of 4,700 plant employees and up to 25,000 at supplier companies statewide represents a loss of $1.4 billion in annual payroll and benefits.
. . . .Other than property taxes, Moore said it’s tough at this point to quantify the entire cost to Fremont of losing NUMMI. It has yet to be factored into the 2010-11 budget for the city of 213,000, she said.
“Even businesses in other parts of town are going to be affected,” she said of the sprawling, 92-square-mile city.
NUMMI suppliers preparing to shut down
That is setting off a ripple effect of shut downs by NUMMI’s suppliers, including plastics molders, and companies ranging from international auto supply giants to individual plants.
Injex Industries Inc. injection molds door panels, glove boxes and other parts in Hayward, Calif. It told the state of California it will lay off 387 employees on April 1.
TG Automotive Sealing Inc., also in Hayward, is part of Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd. of Kiyoshi, Japan. It makes thermoplastic and rubber seals, and will take 204 jobs with it when it closes July 1.
Johnson Controls Inc., with automotive headquarters in Plymouth, Mich., has 321 people making seats in Livermore, Calif. That plant is set to close March 25.
When are we going to put our foot down and stop these closings?!
