Labor & Employment Law

Electric Car Maker Buys NUMMI Plant, Former Workers ?Should Be Hired First?

By Mike Hall

When electrical car maker Tesla Motors begins ramping up operations in the now-shuttered New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Freemont, Calif., the company should hire the workers “who give it the best chance for success,” says UAW Region 5 Director Jim Wells.

Those workers?more than 4,500 members of UAW Local 2244?lost their jobs when Toyota closed the award-winning plant in April. Tesla, based in Palo Alto, Calif., agreed last week to purchase the idle plant from Toyota and produce its electric sedan in partnership with Toyota. Says Wells:

Tesla should hire workers who give it the best chance for success: the workers whose productivity has garnered awards for the facility and who have turned out highly profitable automobiles. That means they understand how to work smart and work safe.

Established as a joint venture between General Motors (GM) and Toyota Motors in 1984, the NUMMI facility most recently built the Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Corolla and Tacoma pickup. As part of a structured bankruptcy, GM eliminated its Pontiac brand in 2009.

Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk told the San Jose Business Journal that the car maker initially will hire some 1,000 workers, with production beginning in 2012. He said the workforce could eventually grow to 5,000, with another 5,000 jobs being created down the supply chain.

Musk also said Tesla will remain neutral on the question of union representation. Says Wells:

It was also heartening to read Musk saying Tesla was “neutral” on any possible union organization drive?that Tesla will let workers decide for themselves whether they want a union. This kind of forward thinking will help Tesla hire the best workers and get this exciting venture off to a successful start.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on May 28, 2010 (boomark / email).