Source: Financial Post

Nicolas Van Praet, Financial Post

TORONTO -- The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers, trying to become the first union in Canada and the United States to win representation at a factory wholly owned by Toyota Motor Corp., said it filed unfair labour practice charges against the Japanese automaker for allegedly going too far in trying to persuade workers at its Cambridge, Ont. assembly plant not to unionize.

The complaint filed Monday to the Ontario Labour Relations Board alleges "that certain of Toyota's recent communications with employees have crossed the line set by the law, which prevents employers from intimidating and unduly influencing employees to vote against a union in a certification vote" expected March 20, the union said in a statement.

Toyota Canada has been distributing documents to employees at the Cambridge plant claiming workers will lose money if they join the union, machinists organizer Ian Morland said in an interview. The company also plastered ‘vote no' signs inside the plant on the weekend, he said.

Officials with Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada declined to comment on the complaint. The company said last week it has been successful without a union and that its employees enjoy excellent compensation, benefits and job security.


Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=382042

All for it!!!!!!!! 

U.A.W. Proud!!!

Vetod.

Hammerhead8:

All for it!!!!!!!! 

U.A.W. Proud!!!

They destroyed America's auto industry, why not let Toyota suffer the same fate.

U.S.W man here.Proud to be a union man!

Only slackers need an union.

If you can pull your own weight. no need for one in todays times.

Well jdad,in todays times.Non union places can cut your pay&benefits and you have no say.They can elimante vacation time and you have no say.They can fire you or lay you off for any no good reason and you have no say.I'll pay my union dues and keep what I have without a corporation say we are cutting back and sticking it to you,well the CEO gets paid more!

Millenocket was an old mill the company did'nt put much capitol in,just like Westbrook and Berlin,N.H.But I'll stand by the when has a CEO offered to take a cut when they want to cut corporate expanses?Sure I feel bad for those hard working guys/gals up there.Company I work for for bought Stora-Enso and has shut down mills they bought and machines at other mills to go to more ecomonic updated mills they sunk money into.Ecomonics man but the CEO never takes his cut to help a company!He only collects his millions and cashes in more by slashing at middle income guys!

A CEO paycut would be symbolic at best.  Those guys work under contract so once the contract is cut its either pay them or fire them.  In the world of stock trading you don't herald your company by firing CEO's even if you are having performance problems.  It could impact a large company far more than their pay.    This is what I was stabbing at.  CEO pay makes for a great emotional issue to get everyone all hackled up, but its really nothing more.    I posted this before, but if they eliminated the CEO at Boeing and spread his pay over all the employees they would get roughly $38 each before taxes.  Now thanks to Bill Clinton that would be a bonus and the government would take 43.65% of that.
You don't see Hollywood stars voluntarily taking paycuts to make movies cheaper do you? Don't you think its rediculous that a movie star makes that foolish money for pretending to be a real person?  The stupidest part is that people actualy care what they think.  Most of them make more money than the CEO's and for what?  How about pro athletes?  Many of them make more money than CEO's too.  Still a pats fan though.   Maybe we should go completely Stalinist and set all their pay instead of being a free country.  Sounds like a good idea doesn't it?

I worked at the Bucksport Mill for 5 years and know first hand that the mill was way overburdened at that time by an excessive work force pushed on it by the Union.  The mill has tried and tried to upgrade and stay competetive, but in the end their operating costs are much higher than overseas plants.  Has nothing to do with CEO pay, nothing to do with equipment, but has everything to do with the cost of employees   Way back in 1982 I made $16 and hour as general labor.  It was literally a minimum wage type job sweeping the floor.  Sometimes i think Union members think corporations are bottomless pits of money and they are just being selfish, but you can't pay people $16-20 an hour to sweep floors in this modern world before you get your butt kicked in the market place.

Also if you think corporations pay any taxes at all you are esspecially in trouble.  Corporate tax gets rolled into the price of every good or related good they sell.  A corporate tax hike is an increase of taxes on you personally.  Everything you buy has the corporate tax rolled into it....except the imports.  How much of your pay check can the democrats take until you're as irritated by them as I am?

I hope Toyota in Canada becomes union so the plant will close and come to the Southeast where they aren't quite so blind about how companies support employees (buy making money and being profitable).

CEO'S get cut loose and corporation still pay them millions for there firing.Now they got it made!

Squarehead,
You bet your butt CEO's have got it made.  I'm not jealous though, because CEO's work 7 days a week 365 days a year and are on call 24 hours a day even whne they are on vacation.  They make decisions that make or break companies and get paid to take the heat from pissed off workers, stockholders, government officials , politicians, lawyers, evnironmental groups, unions, OSHA, bankers, customers, insurance agencies and what not when they make decisions to keep the companiy alive and profitable.  Most people are complaining once they hit 45 hours  in a week or and have a tiff with a co-worker.
Hey you remember Zenith Televisions?  They were the very last American manufacturer of televisions.  The CEO did the noble thing and tried to stay in the US and pay its American workers American rates and benefits.  Zenith went out of business and the name was bought by an overseas company.  Can you imagine the stress that CEO went through?  We fret over paying a car payment late.  This guy saw an entire company go down and the jobs with it and the millions of owners blamed his decision.

That guy was one of a kind to sacrafice and think of his workers that made him good money.Iaocca sacraficed for the best interest of the company and workers.Rare cases where a CEO will say we need cuts and I'll start at the top with myself and go down the ladder.