Labor & Employment Law

UAW Reaches Tentative Agreement on NUMMI Closing

By James Parks

The UAW today announced it has reached a tentative agreement on the planned closing of Toyota’s New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, Calif. The agreement covers some 4,500 members of UAW Local 2244.

The tentative agreement will be presented to members of the local in the coming days. Details are being withheld pending a ratification vote by the membership. Voting dates have not yet been scheduled. 

Established as a joint venture between General Motors Corp. (GM) and Toyota Motor Corp. in 1984, the NUMMI facility most recently built the Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Corolla and Tacoma pickup. As part of a structured bankruptcy, GM eliminated its Pontiac brand in 2009. Shortly after, Toyota announced its intention to close the NUMMI facility on April 1, 2010.

The plant’s closure also would put out of work another 1,500 Teamsters who transport the cars from the NUMMI plant to the dealerships. Additionally, as many as 50,000 workers at hundreds of businesses in California depend on NUMMI to stay afloat, from the suppliers that manufacture car parts to the restaurants where NUMMI workers go for lunch and even the shoe stores where the plant workers buy their specialized work boots.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on March 15, 2010 (boomark / email).