AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

Toyota Workers Made More than UAW Workers in 2006
But . . .

Thanks to $6,000 to $8,000 bonuses paid to its workers in Georgetown, Kentucky, Toyota workers in the non-union Georgetown plant made more than similarly-situated UAW auto workers. Toyota pay worked out to $30/hour or $60,000 per year for a 2,000 hour year. UAW workers made $27/hour or $54,000 on average last year. Source Detroit Free Press via Autoblog.com.

Toyota workers may find that the gravy train may soon skid off the tracks. In an internal Toyota memo that was discovered by the Detroit Free Press, a Toyota executive complains that the company's U.S. manufacturing wages are rising faster than company profits. (Toyota made record profits last year, by the way.)

Traditionally, to forestall unionization efforts, Toyota and the other "transplant" foreign automakers have paid wages close to the UAW wages for the same jobs. The transplant automakers have nevertheless enjoyed substantial savings due to less generous benefits, more flexible work rules and a younger work force. The age of the workforce is of huge importance. The transplants have virtually no retirees to care for, and the health insurance for younger workers is much cheaper.

With the decline of the UAW, Toyota may change its wage strategy, thinking that unionization efforts are less of a threat. In the memo referenced above, the Toyota executive suggested pegging its wages at the prevailing industrial wage for the area. In the South, where Toyota and the other transplant companies base their plants, the prevailing industrial wage may be $15.00 per hour or less.