Toyota is raising the wages of its factory workers — all of them non-unionized — after the UAW strikes at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis culminated in pay hikes for unionized employees.
Why it matters: After reaching tentative deals with the Detroit Three, the UAW is setting its sights on organizing non-unionized automotive plants in the U.S. — with Toyota a possible target.
Driving the news: Toyota spokesman Scott Vazin confirmed Tuesday in an email to Axios that the automaker “did provide wage increases today” for workers at all of its U.S. plants.
Yep. However, I have mixed feelings.
The core of the problem is this: People who have been with the company for a number of years were likely affected by the pay cap. New people at the company start at a higher rate that is comparable to what experienced employees are currently making.
If someone has already put in a ton of time and is very knowledgeable about their position may not get a fair adjustment. My wife works at a company that did the same thing, and from experience, it can really suck out the morale of people who are dedicated to the company and had to earn their raises.
I get both sides of the problem. Regardless of experience, companies should offer fair pay from the start of employment. By that same token, experienced and dedicated employees should see an increase in pay that is not capped, and if there is a pay cap, it should be set at a different level to account for their service.
Pay can be a complicated issue and I absolutely won’t pretend to know how it is managed at companies with thousands of employees. For me, this is mind boggling.
Edit: I am trying to ask a question and relate it to personal experience. Could the pay increases be more disproportionate than what the article states?
What do you have mixed feeling about exactly?
Sorry, my excessive wording probably did more harm to my own point. I’ll simplify without the fluff.
New people at a company should always get fair pay. Experienced people with years of experience should also see a similar pay adjustment when pay structure changes are made.
While it’s good that new people get a decent wage, it can be disheartening for people that have years of experience may have a potential pay adjustment capped.
My bias is that my wife’s company did a minimum pay adjustment across the board without increasing the salary of people who had previously earned their raises from being with the company for years. (It’s not exactly a 1 to 1 match with how Toyota adjusted pay, but I am left wondering if there may be a similar situation.)
How about you get a union to organize for a fair wage increase across the board lmao
My point related to me seeing the pay cap that was implemented by Toyota in the article.
While it is awesome for a company to rebalance pay even for non-union workers, I am simply curious if the pay caps still caused an imbalance for more experienced employees, union or not.
Of course they do if they aren’t raising top out as well…but in union shops they are.
The factory im in does the same thing. I went from operator to maintenance in a couple years and my pay went up 80%, but people starting today in my operator job are making 30% more now to do it than I did back then. Guess what, it’s a non union factory. I hate it, not because they don’t deserve good wages, but because the company collectively shits on the well trained workforce they have by doing that. They will reap what they sow in the end.