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18 June, 2007Employment practices, working conditions and respect for worker rights are key concerns.
THAILAND: Delegates from trade union organizations affiliated with International Metalworkers’ Federation from ten countries in which Toyota has major production facilities met on June 4-6 in Bangkok to share and exchange information on wages, working conditions and organizing, to identify common challenges and mutually supportive ways to respond. The meeting took place during a period of widespread change and restructuring in the global automotive sector, during which Toyota has achieved significant growth to become among the largest and most profitable transnational companies in the industry.
The company’s long established path to boost volume and profitability has led to new employment opportunities in communities where the company invests and operates. At the same time, discussions focused on how the use by Toyota and other transnational auto companies of sub-contacting, outsourcing and precarious employment practices increasingly have created irregular forms of work with weaker protections and lower compensation in place of permanent jobs.
Demands for higher output and new product development have created added pressures for enhanced productivity of workers at Toyota and its suppliers and union delegates voiced a demand for strong health and safety protections, calling on the company and suppliers to commit resources necessary to prevent occupational injuries such as muscular-skeletal disorders resulting from repetitive stress, and for statutory and collectively negotiated protections that effectively safeguard all workers.
Toyota has well established industrial relations with trade unions at many operations around the world, though not all, and delegates voiced unequivocal and basic support for the free exercise by workers of their fundamental rights to form and join unions of their choice and engage in collective bargaining without government or employer interference. Concerns were expressed regarding company conduct and disputes involving unjust dismissals in a number of countries including the Philippines, with a call for fair and prompt resolutions.
The company’s long established path to boost volume and profitability has led to new employment opportunities in communities where the company invests and operates. At the same time, discussions focused on how the use by Toyota and other transnational auto companies of sub-contacting, outsourcing and precarious employment practices increasingly have created irregular forms of work with weaker protections and lower compensation in place of permanent jobs.
Demands for higher output and new product development have created added pressures for enhanced productivity of workers at Toyota and its suppliers and union delegates voiced a demand for strong health and safety protections, calling on the company and suppliers to commit resources necessary to prevent occupational injuries such as muscular-skeletal disorders resulting from repetitive stress, and for statutory and collectively negotiated protections that effectively safeguard all workers.
Toyota has well established industrial relations with trade unions at many operations around the world, though not all, and delegates voiced unequivocal and basic support for the free exercise by workers of their fundamental rights to form and join unions of their choice and engage in collective bargaining without government or employer interference. Concerns were expressed regarding company conduct and disputes involving unjust dismissals in a number of countries including the Philippines, with a call for fair and prompt resolutions.