Judge stops vote by Toyota workers on plan to cut costs and lift productivity

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/dec/12/judge-stops-vote-by-toyota-workers

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The federal court has issued an injunction stopping a vote by Toyota Australia production workers on Friday on a management package to cut costs and boost productivity.

The ruling by judge Mordy Bromberg poses more questions about Toyota's future as it considers whether it can continue to make cars following the decision by GM Holden to shut its local manufacturing operations by 2017.

About 2,500 production workers at Toyota's Altona plant in Melbourne were due to have started voting from midnight on Thursday, as the first shift workers clocked on.

The injunction runs until early February, although Toyota might yet decide to appeal the ruling.

Toyota has put forward a package of workplace changes which cut some allowances and give greater flexibility in working hours and shifts. It reduces overall pay but would still allow two scheduled increases to base pay.

The car maker says the package would give annual savings of about $17m. It aims to cut the cost of of its Australian made cars by $3,800 by 2018.

A small group of Toyota shop stewards and workers sought the injunction, arguing that the existing workplace agreement at Toyota's Altona plant included a clause which said "no further claims" could be made during the life of the agreement.

The judge ruled that Toyota was making extra claims to vary wages and employment conditions and that this was in breach of the Fair Work Act.

He said that Toyota management could still seek to remove the clause prohibiting extra claims during the life of the agreement.

This would allow the company to then seek approval from the workforce for the original package of changes, but this two-step process would take months to complete.

Car industry unions have said they are willing to have further discussions on workplace change but have complained that Toyota has not consulted with them.

The federal and Victorian governments are likely to criticise the legal action, as they seek to retain Toyota as Australia's last car manufacturer.

Toyota Australia President and CEO Max Yasuda said he was disappointed with the ruling.

“We believe that we are within our rights to vary our workplace agreement provided the majority of our employees support the changes through a formal vote,” Yasuda said.

“The company is doing everything that it can to secure the future for our employees and their families.

“GM Holden’s planned closure in 2017 will put our manufacturing operations and the local supplier network under unprecedented pressure, so it is now more important than ever before that we make urgent changes.

“A decision will be made next year on the next generation Camry and export program and we need to take urgent action if we want to stay at the negotiating table for future investments.

“The proposed changes were designed to remove outdated and uncompetitive terms and conditions that make it difficult to compete with other Toyota plants throughout the world.”

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