Toyota sweats U.S. labor costs

[Blue_Tires]

Toyota sweats U.S. labor costs

INTERNAL REPORT: Slow the pay growth by 2011

BY JASON ROBERSON - - FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Toyota Motor Corp. must hold down growth of its U.S. manufacturing wages and benefits, which are among the highest in the auto industry and are growing faster than the company's profit margin, according to a high-level company report obtained by the Free Press.

The report from Seiichi (Sean) Sudo, president of Toyota Engineering & Manufacturing in North America, said Toyota should strive to align hourly wages more closely with prevailing manufacturing pay in the state where each plant is located, "and not tie ourselves so closely to the U.S. auto industry, or other competitors."

Sudo's report to top managers said the Japan-based company projected a $900-million increase in U.S. manufacturing compensation by 2011, and human resources officials were working on trimming that by one-third.

The drive to hold down costs may boost UAW organizing efforts, if Toyota workers balk at the possibility of smaller raises, reduced benefits or greater demands for productivity gains. But the plan also illustrates that the world's most-profitable automaker is going to keep relentless pressure on Detroit and its signature industry.

The root of Sudo's worry: Labor costs as a percentage of sales are growing faster than Toyota's profit margin.

link: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070208/BUSINESS01/702080429
there is also a PDF of the report at the link

[Missy M]

1. Soon we'll be seeing Toyota's made in China!

[Double T]

2. Hard choices will be made; accept lower wages or close plants........

and lose more jobs; given these choices, maintaining the manufacturing plants and the jobs is paramount.

[hughee99]

12. Accept lower wages?

It sounds like they already paying their workers as well as anyone in the industry and aren't talking about lowering anyone's wage, just slowing the rate of future increases. Did I read this wrong?

"Toyota Motor Corp. must hold down growth of its U.S. manufacturing wages and benefits, which are among the highest in the auto industry and are growing faster than the company's profit margin, according to a high-level company report obtained by the Free Press."

[Double T]

13. lower (and fewer) wages (increases)=hold down GROWTH of wages and benefits

My interpretation of what Toyota is saying.

[dflprincess]

3. I'll admit I didn't read the article

(I don't have time right now). But are these projected costs are result of actual wages or the cost of health insurance?

[LiberalFighter]

5. Average $30 an hour including bonuses

Other benefits are questionable. Best I see they have are medical. Don't believe they have retirement benefits.

[pampango]

4. There's another thread on this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2722334

[Blue_Tires]

11. thanks

the mods will soon merge them

[JCMach1]

6. Are we seeing the first chinks in Toyota's armor?

Korean cars are very high quality now... European makers have improved greatly... Build quality in China is rising by leaps and bounds each year... Are Toyota's days at the top numbered?



...
A dent in Toyota quality?
By Micheline Maynard and Martin Fackler The New York Times

Published: August 4, 2006
DETROIT The news arrives in letters that no car owner wants to receive. The power steering of their hard-to-get hybrid could fail, some learn, while others are told the tires on the small pickups could bulge and possibly burst. Still more owners find out their airbags may not inflate during a crash.

These recall notices are not from an American carmaker, but from Toyota of Japan, long known as the crème de la crème when it comes to quality.

Just as Toyota appears poised to pass General Motors and become the world's largest automaker, it has a growing problem with recalls that is sullying its carefully honed image.

In the United States, Toyota's largest market, the number of vehicles recalled soared to 2.2 million last year. That was double the number of vehicles recalled in 2004, and more than 10 times the 200,000 cars it recalled in 2003, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In Japan, the number of recalled vehicles has jumped 41-fold since 2001, to 1.9 million last year.... http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/04/business/recall.php

[blueknight]

7. my best friend and his son work at toyota

in georgetown ky, and make camrys. neither make $30.00 a hour. i believe around 24.00. but both have the best benefits going

[SpiralHawk]

8. "All your fair wages are belong to us." - republicon cabal of cronies

"So you proles can just shut up and sit down."

-- Kompassionate Konzervative Kabal of Korrupt republicon Kronies

[musiclawyer]

9. The auto manufacturers that survive in the USA

probably will be mostly foreign, and even they will make it only by paying 15-20 bucs an hour (Hyundai wages). This is a complete realignment from even 20 years ago when an auto manufacturing job could feed a family of four. These jobs will basically be no more than living wage from now on. Don't have a lot of kids if you end up there.

[Yavin4]

10. It's Heathcare Not The Wages That's Driving Up The Costs

Not having a national healthcare plan is killing job and wage growth in America. We're the only industrialized nation in the world that has employers paying the full weight for healthcare, and our workers have to compete in a globalized economy.

If I were a campaign strategist, I would have my candidate put forth a plan that enhance the American worker's chances in this global competition. Key parts would be a national health insurance plan with a heavy emphasis on healthcare maintenance, massive federal funding for ALL levels of education, and a better safety net for workers displaced because of outsourcing.