Interesting read about Toyota

[Jstas]

Saw this article on Autoblog:

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/18/t...rights-abuses/

Which the referenced this report:

http://www.nlcnet.org/article.php?id=562


I knew things at Toyota weren't as rosy as everyone thinks they are but wow! I wasn't expecting that!


Oh and even considering the source of the report, if even less than half of it is true, it's still appalling.

[PhantomOG]

Most Americans have never heard of Kenichi Uchino, who at 30 years of age died of overwork at the Prius plant, routinely working 14-hour shifts and putting in anywhere between 107 and 155 hours of overtime a month—at least 61 1/2 hours of which was unpaid.

I don't get that. I cannot imagine in any way, shape, or form an economy in Japan where a worker would have no other choice for a job.

[Jstas]

I don't think it's about a choice of a job. Toyota is an honorable place to work, not necessarily desirable but honorable is a good thing. It is a very different culture there and you can't use other cultures like the one here in America or the ones in Europe to judge theirs. There is very little similarity between them.

[sucks2beme]

This is very common there in big companies.
You work in a big outfit, they own you.
Sadly, there seems to be two extremes. Unions
in charge-big paychecks, no flexabilty.
Companies in charge, low or lower wages,
long hours, no flexability.
The middle ground is getting smaller and harder to find.

[obieone]

Hopefully someone breaks the story in the mainstream media, just to embarass those over-pious celebrities

[markmarc]

A good 20 years ago Lloyd Dobbins did an hour-long special for NBC News "The Japan You Don't See". In it he points out that much of the small parts are assembled in very small family-owned mini-factories. This allowed Toyota to develop it's "just-in-time" parts delivery for factories. The condition of these "sweat shops" weren't great, work was laborious, and the pay very marginal.

In all honesty, this is very old news.

[Ron-P]

I don't think it's about a choice of a job. Toyota is an honorable place to work, not necessarily desirable but honorable is a good thing. It is a very different culture there and you can't use other cultures like the one here in America or the ones in Europe to judge theirs. There is very little similarity between them.

Well said.

[hoosier21]

why is pay at auto factories so high? Union or not, GM or Toyota, the pay scale always seems out of line with other industries factory workers pay scales. "Toyota pays around $25 per hour in comparison with G.M.’s $26 to $28." You are not going to make that money in any of the factories around here.

Granted, all I ever see of the inside of a car factory is on TV, but what are these workers doing to make that kind of money? No disrespect to anyone who works for the auto industry ( I know too late), but the jobs look like most any other assembly type job, and the heavy lifting jobs look to have robot type or crane assisted arms, anyway.. how did the pay scales get so seemingly out of wack with the rest of the factory world?

just a question and observation.

[mrbigbluelight]

why is pay at auto factories so high? Union or not, GM or Toyota, the pay scale always seems out of line with other industries factory workers pay scales. "Toyota pays around $25 per hour in comparison with G.M.’s $26 to $28." You are not going to make that money in any of the factories around here.

Granted, all I ever see of the inside of a car factory is on TV, but what are these workers doing to make that kind of money? No disrespect to anyone who works for the auto industry ( I know too late), but the jobs look like most any other assembly type job, and the heavy lifting jobs look to have robot type or crane assisted arms, anyway.. how did the pay scales get so seemingly out of wack with the rest of the factory world?

just a question and observation.

No answer, just wanted to compliment you on the honesty and neutrality displayed in your question.

Nice work.

[PhantomOG]

why is pay at auto factories so high?

shh... that's the question no one is allowed to ask. By God, in this country, you are supposed to be able to afford a two-story house, two cars, four kids, and plasma TVs with one wage earner with an intelligence equivalent to the average 13 year old and the skill set of your below average monkey.

[Hawkeye]

I work for a major airplane manufacturing company and the wages at our plant are no where near what the automakers pay. I'm not in the manufacturing side of the house, but flight test. Those people putting together airplanes are skilled labor with no room for error and they should earn what the automakers pay. You can't pull over to the side if your engine cuts out.

I'm sure the unions can take the credit for pushing the wages up that high, yet making the price of a new car nearly unaffordable for many people. I'm not union bashing, just the observation I make daily working along side union guys. Where I work, we are not union, yet in the same hanger, a different company has a contract and they are union. They make a couple dollars more an hour than I do, yet the product they produce is inferior and are about to lose the contract. Sounds like the same situation in the auto industry.

Gordon