Kubota's Headquarters Moving from California to Texas

[TomSeller]

California's loss is Texas's gain...

They said 5,000 plant jobs and up to 10,000 ancillary in support were lost with the plant moving... everything from a coiled steel plant to small injection moulding
companies plus the jobs move the many thousands of vehicles produced each month...

Even 10 years ago NUMMI was in the spotlight with so many businesses leaving/closing...

http://www.autonews.com/article/19940808/ANA/408080741/job-pressed-calif.-cuts-nummi-some-slack

Union members fight NUMMI plant closing | UAW

From your link:
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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.”
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The first sentence is pretty damning of the union. The second sentence shows how clueless the union can be.

 

[EddieWalker]

When I was in the union, I was told over and over again how the union is the reason we where getting paid so much and how all the benefits where where getting where so much better then those in the non union world. It's told so often and by so many people in the union that it's just become common knowledge and everyone believes it. Then I moved to Texas and met too many people to count who where making more money doing unskilled jobs then what I was making working for the union. They had just as good a benefit package and then never had to pay union dues or deal with any of the union BS that is so common. Add the cost of living being a lot less in Texas and it's pretty easy to see how much better a quality of life is for those who move.

I can't speak for the quality of workmanship you get from a union plant compared to a non union plant since I don't have any experience with those vehicles from both types of plants. But I would be willing to bet a bunch of money that the union guys mess up, slow down and sabotage things a lot more often then the non union guys when they want something or they think they might lose a privilege. Most common reason for this that I saw was when management made a change that cut out goof off time, or resulted in them knowing where everybody was all of the time. After awhile, it becomes really hard to support and be a part of a union.

Eddie

 

[300UGUY]

This is veering pretty deep into politics, but my own experience in working non union was lower pay, very few benefits, no retirement. Union got me better pay, better bennies, and a pension, plus health care in retirement. I have been very fortunate.

 

[ultrarunner]

Only worked on one small Union Shop and it was a good experience...

Where I see a huge difference is between Nurses in a Union and non-Union...

The Nurses Union in the Bay Area is all powerful and the Bay Area pays the highest RN wages in the country... the Union goes out on 1 day strikes often and has the full support of the media for the most part... typical compensation packages for RN is between 135 to 150k... non-Union is a third or more less...

I'm guessing Nurses, Fire Fighters, Law Enforcement and Teacher Unions do well because it is not something easily outsourced...

We have lost many of our best young Nurses to the Union Hospitals... there is no way we can compete with a Kaiser or Sutter... on wage an benefits...

About 10 years ago the non-Union Hospital where I work suspended the pension plan temporarily... I now know temporarily means at least 10 years and counting...

The handwriting was on the wall for NUMMI because of the UNION.

It's not the first company to leave for a non Union State... just like Boeing in Washington...

I don't know if Kubota California is Union or not?

 

[300UGUY]

From your link:
=======
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 sentence is pretty damning of the union. The second sentence shows how clueless the union can be.

I guess I miss the damming part? It's a fact that transplant factories pay has been based on the big 3 pay levels. When we got a raise, so did they, but they didn't have to pay union dues to get it. Believe me, we heard about it. A lot of us know or are related to folks who work for transplants. I have 2 cousins, one aunt and a brother who have either worked for or still work for transplants. When we stopped getting raises, so did they!

 

[300UGUY]

Only worked on one small Union Shop and it was a good experience...

Where I see a huge difference is between Nurses in a Union and non-Union...

The Nurses Union in the Bay Area is all powerful and the Bay Area pays the highest RN wages in the country... the Union goes out on 1 day strikes often and has the full support of the media for the most part... typical compensation packages for RN is between 135 to 150k... non-Union is a third or more less...

I'm guessing Nurses, Fire Fighters, Law Enforcement and Teacher Unions do well because it is not something easily outsourced...

We have lost many of our best young Nurses to the Union Hospitals... there is no way we can compete with a Kaiser or Sutter... on wage an benefits...

About 10 years ago the non-Union Hospital where I work suspended the pension plan temporarily... I now know temporarily means at least 10 years and counting...

The handwriting was on the wall for NUMMI because of the UNION.

It's not the first company to leave for a non Union State... just like Boeing in Washington...

I don't know if Kubota California is Union or not?

I doubt they were union, I think it was mostly admin and financial folks there. I know my tractor was made in Japan....

Manufacturing has been pretty much gutted here in the US. Yeah, we have assembly plants, but they were always the lowest paying plants, and the least labor intensive. A lot of the transplants, of all industries, are still making the expensive parts, like engines and transmissions, in asia or Mexico. And lots of parts are now imported. Visteon, Ford's old part division, once had 22 US plants. Now they have 1, and 30+ somewhere else. Toyota, Nissan, etc, all have plants in Mexico or other low wage places. Manufacturing jobs are now low paying. I don't think it will ever change.

Jobs that can't be outsourced are going to do better.

 

[TomSeller]

I guess I miss the damming part?

It was the only US Toyota plant that was union and it was closed. That doesn't speak well for unionized labor.

 

[300UGUY]

I doubt they were union, I think it was mostly admin and financial folks there. I know my tractor was made in Japan....

Manufacturing has been pretty much gutted here in the US. Yeah, we have assembly plants, but they were always the lowest paying plants, and the least labor intensive. A lot of the transplants, of all industries, are still making the expensive parts, like engines and transmissions, in asia or Mexico. And lots of parts are now imported. Visteon, Ford's old part division, once had 22 US plants. Now they have 1, and 30+ somewhere else. Toyota, Nissan, etc, all have plants in Mexico or other low wage places. Manufacturing jobs are now low paying. I don't think it will ever change.

Jobs that can't be outsourced are going to do better.

NUMMI always was a high cost plant, because so much had to be shipped in. It was the last plant GM had in California, they had Van Nuys?, Los Gatos, and I think one other. They were all shut down in the 80's, as the industry retreated to the Midwest.

 

[300UGUY]

It was the only US Toyota plant that was union and it was closed. That doesn't speak well for unionized labor.

Last I heard, Toyota had over 30% of their workforce as temps. At low wages. That doesn't speak well of them.

 

[TomSeller]

Last I heard, Toyota had over 30% of their workforce as temps. At low wages. That doesn't speak well of them.

The union mentally just doesn't seem to get that they drive labor costs too high for the type of work they do. In current manufacturing, these jobs are at relatively low skill levels. Union actions are also often at odds with the production goals of the company as well. Production stalling strikes, collective bargaining and seniority protected jobs are counter productive which is part of why unions are on the way out. Note the percentage of California union workers to Texas union workers and note the opposite in growth of jobs between the two states.