O, I don't disagree with you...
I only hope the workers are smart enough to reject having that big monkey on their backs...
"Tanguay [President of Toyota Canada] told Cambridge workers they could expect to pay $2.45 million in union dues and reminded them that the plant is the only auto factory on Canada's top 100 places to work, according to Maclean's, a national magazine.
The CAW was approached to organize workers at Cambridge because of excessive overtime. Tanguay says no auto plant can operate without overtime and claims a union contract would provide less schedule flexibility for workers."
Tanguay's statement about no auto plant can operate without overtime is very interesting given Toyota's overall approach to waste, i.e. the Toyota Production System. Actually, the TPS is probably a significant reason why they chose a more highly-educated and easily trained workforce. Easier to motivate with performance improvement incentives from the use of the suggestion box.
And this, I think, is where the problem is. Most of the people I have met who worked in a Japanese owned business hated it. Rural southerners, both black and white, value independence above all else. They prefer land and a trailer to a big home in the burbs on a half acre plot. They do not want to become slaves to a job or mortgage and will tell a supervisor where to go if he begins to act like he owns them. As far as illiteracy is concerned, look at the demographics of the counties surrounding the Mississippi plant. Three of the counties just north of the plant lead the state in high school dropouts, teen pregnancy, and welfare recipients (Part of Dem. Benny Thompson's congressional district).