Toyota said today it plans to shut down the NUMMI plant because of high labor costs, associated with California’s high cost of living, and not because the UAW represents workers at the plant.
“The UAW presence does not have a direct impact on the decision,” Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi said in conference call today. “California is a high-cost location,” Niimi said.
NUMMI is Toyota’s only UAW-represented auto plant, with a union work force of more than 4,000 people.
Earlier, the UAW boss scolded Toyota for closing the NUMMI plant after benefiting from the ‘clunkers’ program. Several lawmakers attempted to save the NUMMI plant.
