http://www.racewire.org/archives/2010/05/tesla_revives_nummi_plant_but_will_workers_of_color_benefit.htmlYvonne Liu
Tesla Revives NUMMI Plant, But Will Workers of Color Benefit?
Velarde is a member-organizer at LIFETIME, an organization based in Oakland, that helps single mothers on public assistance with access to higher education and employment. LIFETIME is embarking on a new campaign to ensure that low-income women of color have pathways to access good, green jobs.
The NUMMI factory has been through many incarnations. GM built it in the 1960s, at the peak of our country’s obsession with automobiles. It closed briefly in the 1980s, when the domestic industry was challenged by cheaper imports, and reopened under the joint ownership with Toyota. The plant was cited for its innovative blend of American and Japanese production techniques.
Tesla says that it plans to make its Model S in the plant, a $50,000 electric sedan, as well as develop other models with Toyota. Currently, they produce a high-end Roadster sports car, which sells for $109,000. The prices surprise Velarde. “Who can afford a $50,000 car?,” she asked. “It’s a recession now and no one can afford that, except the very rich.”
It remains to be seen if the 1,000 jobs at the new Tesla-Toyota entity will be unionized. Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk told the San Francisco Chronicle that "on the question of the union we're neutral” and the company would not encourage or oppose organizing by their workers.
Velarde doubts that the new green jobs at NUMMI will be unionized. “Why did they shut down the plant if they were going to reopen it?” she asked. “I think they’re going to bring in non-union workers; people are desperate and they’ll take any salary now.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/20/MNGP1DI8OL.DTL#ixzz0ocBvtnkDTesla joins with Toyota to reopen Nummi plant
Tesla will use it to build the planned Model S, a $50,000 sedan that should enter production in mid-2012. Musk and Toyoda did not disclose the plant's sale price.
Musk said Tesla is adding staff at the rate of about 50 persons a month and already hiring former Nummi workers. It expects to have up to 1,000 people in Fremont within the next few years, in addition to roughly 400 people already in Palo Alto.
In an interview with The Chronicle, Musk said the new alliance would produce a joint Toyota-Tesla car that would be a Toyota vehicle powered by a Tesla drive-train, hitting the market before the Model S. The companies also plan to develop other electric vehicles together, he said.
Asked about his posture toward the United Auto Workers, which had represented Nummi's rank-and-file, Musk said, "on the question of the union we're neutral," adding that Tesla would neither encourage nor oppose workers organizing.
"We're thrilled," said Sergio Santos, president of UAW Local 2244, which had fought to keep Toyota in Fremont before it ceased production of gas-powered cars there April 1. "It's going to put some people back to work and bring a lot of jobs to California."
http://mothermuckraker.blogspot.com/2010/05/toyota-tesla-partnership-to-reopen.htmlFriday, May 21, 2010
Toyota Tesla Partnership to Reopen NUMMI
First, it's great news that electric vehicles will be produced there as they produce no emissions . We desperately need vehicles like that to keep global warming in check. Mass production of EVs have to start somewhere and the sooner the better. Our Co2 levels are at an all time high and our glaciers are melting. Most scientists agree that we are moving towards extinction if we don't keep these greenhouse gasses in check. There's no doubt about it. We need to move towards ZERO greenhouse gas emissions NOW. What remains in question is the issue of labor.
We lost 4500 jobs. This new venture is expected to create 1000 jobs in the beginning. Which one of us will be hired back? Will laid off NUMMI workers get preference?
...
The projected production of the Tesla model to be produced at the former NUMMI plant is only 20,000 per year. NUMMI can produce 400,000+. This suggests that Tesla will be hiring more than their initial 1000 workers in the future as sales is expected to rise. It remains to be seen whether Tesla has a viable product for the mass market. Unlike Toyota, when NUMMI began, Tesla is starting from scratch.
Also, Toyota's investment of $50 million to buy a stake in Tesla is chump change when Toyota has tens of billions in cash. Toyota has little to lose. Some early reports on the internet have suggested that this is nothing more than a publicity stunt on Toyota's part to soften their recent spate of bad press with recalls and closing their best quality plant. What could be better than the promise of "green technology" to replace NUMMI? Is it Toyota's way of greenwashing their recent bad press on the cheap?
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