Union members fight NUMMI plant closing

UAW Vice President Bob King, top right, spoke to activists from labor, environmental and consumer groups outside the Japanese Embassy at a Jan. 28 rally in Washington.

The sign outside the Toyota dealership in Alhambra, Calif., reads, “Stop Toyota from Crashing the California Economy.”

Indeed, the campaign to keep the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant open and save American jobs continues to gain momentum.

From a petition drive to UAW activists rallying at the nation’s major auto shows and auto dealerships, union member actions have attracted attention throughout the country and put real pressure on Toyota.

Dozens of UAW members, retirees, community activists and elected officials gathered at the Toyota dealer just northeast of Los Angeles on Jan. 23-24 to protest the company’s announced plant closing. About 400 miles away, a crowd gathered outside a Toyota dealership in San Jose.

That same week NUMMI workers, other UAW members, Teamsters, and community activists and supporters took their message to the Japanese Embassy in Washington on Jan. 28.

UAW Vice President Bob King joined representatives from labor, environmental and consumer groups outside the embassy to call on the Japanese government to hold Toyota accountable for waging an attack on thousands of good-paying jobs in the United States.

King told the crowd that California led the nation in “cash for clunkers” sales in 2009, and Toyota sold more cars under this program than any other automaker.

“It’s outrageous that the No. 1 selling car in cash for clunkers was the Corolla, the car that is manufactured in the NUMMI plant. After receiving more money in this bailout program than any other company, Toyota is turning its back on American workers and American taxpayers by closing the plant in the state where they sell the most cars in the U.S., shipping these jobs to Japan and then importing the cars back to the United States for sale,” said King.

NUMMI, located in Fremont, Calif., is the last vehicle assembly plant in the western United States. Opening 25 years ago as a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors, the plant introduced America to Toyota’s innovative production methods.

UAW and NUMMI workers made a commitment to implement these new methods and produce high-quality cars. In turn, management made a commitment to long-term employment stability and job security in the Japanese tradition.

Last July GM pulled out of NUMMI as a part of its bankruptcy filing.

Two months later Toyota took advantage of the situation and reneged on its commitment to worker job security by announcing its intent to close the plant March 31 – marking the first time in its 75- year history that Toyota has closed a plant.

Shuttering the plant will have a devastating impact on California’s already ailing economy and the nation as a whole. At stake are the jobs of 4,500 UAW Local 2244 members and up to 50,000 supplier and support workers, including hundreds of members of UAW Local 76.

Job loss of this magnitude will have a crippling affect on small businesses and drastically reduce tax revenue needed for roads, parks, schools and other public services.

In addition, NUMMI is the only unionized Toyota assembly plant in the United States, and its loss will ultimately impact the wages and benefits of autoworkers at transplant factories across the country.

“We can’t just sit back and let this happen,” UAW Region 5 Director Wells told a meeting of union leadership last November. “We’ve got to fight and fight hard.”

The first step in the campaign was a petition drive demanding Toyota keep the plant open or face a boycott. Starting with signatures from NUMMI workers, Local 2244 activists expanded their efforts into the community and then were joined by UAW members from across the state. To date, the petition drive has been successful beyond expectations collecting more than 75,000 signatures in California and thousands more from across the country.

California is by far Toyota’s biggest sales market. To have this many potential customers threatening a boycott is hitting Toyota right in the pocketbook. In addition, elected officials at every level of state government have joined the chorus of voices demanding that Toyota stay.

Local 2244 activists, along with other UAW members, also have been taking the campaign to keep NUMMI open to the big auto shows.

The effort went national with UAW members leafleting Detroit’s North American International Auto Show, the Washington show and subsequent shows in Chicago, St. Louis and New York.

Sergio Santos

Santos is Local 2244 president.