Toyota runs slave mills and works its minions to death

[HeilSvenska]

Well... the title might be exaggerated a bit.

Toyota Linked to Human Trafficking and Sweatshop Abuses NEW YORK, June 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the National Labor Committee (NLC) is releasing a 65-page report, "The Toyota You Don't Know" documenting serious human rights violations by the Toyota Motor Company, which will disturb most Americans. "Celebrities like Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pit, Bill Maher and others have led the way in turning Toyota's Prius into a symbol of concern for our environment," said Charles Kernaghan, director of the NLC, "We hope that these same celebrities will now also challenge Toyota to improve its respect for human and worker rights. As a start, Toyota should cut its ties to the Burmese dictators and end the exploitation of foreign guest workers trafficked to Japan." * Toyota linked to human trafficking and sweatshop abuse: Toyota's much admired "Just in Time" auto parts supply chain is riddled with sweatshop abuse, including the trafficking of foreign guest workers, mostly from China and Vietnam to Japan, who are stripped of their passports and often forced to work--including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota--16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage. Guest workers who complain about abusive conditions are deported. * Prius made by low-wage temps: Fully one-third--10,000--of all Toyota assembly line workers in Japan are low-wage temps who have few rights and earn less than 60% of what full time workers do. * Unpaid overtime and "overworked" to death: Mr. Kenichi Uchino was just 30 years old when he died of overwork on an assembly line at Toyota's Prius plant, leaving behind his young wife and two children. Mr. Uchino routinely worked 13 to 14 hours a day, putting in 106 1/2 to 155 hours of overtime--depending on whether work taken home was counted--in the 30 days leading up to his death. Toyota claimed that he had only worked 45 hours of overtime and that the other 61 1/2 to 110 hours were "voluntary" and unpaid. His wife had to go to court -- which ruled that Mr. Uchino was overworked to death -- to win a pension for their children. * Ties to Burmese dictators: Toyota, through the Toyota Tsusho Corporation, which is part of the Toyota Group of Companies, is involved in several joint business ventures with the ruthless military regime in Burma. The dictators use these revenues to repress and torture the people of Burma. * Toyota and the race to the bottom: Toyota is imposing its two-tier, low wage model at its non-union plants in the south of the United States, which will result in wages and benefits being slashed across the entire auto industry. The National Labor Committee recently documented how the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement descended into human trafficking with tens of thousands of foreign guest workers held under conditions of involuntary servitude.

[Mattk]

I'm surprised actually. Nike's reputation still hasn't recovered after its sweatshop abuses. Not sure why any company would risk it now. It all seems a bit unreal.

[5vz-fe]

I am sure every company has some bad practices to cut cost and increase profit. Just that not every thing hits the fan.

[torrentjunkie]

Originally Posted by 5vz-fe I am sure every company has some bad practices to cut cost and increase profit. Just that not every thing hits the fan.

too true indeed, that's just business

[Mattk]

Sure, every company has some bad practices, but stuff you can get away with. The stuff in that report is just crazy. Certainly possible, but it's hard to imagine Toyota, a massive global company, would ever think that they'd get away with it.

[styla21]

I struggle to believe it actually... Toyota is a public company, operating across many jurisdictions, in a world where litigation is actually a business, and public-accountability is at an all-time high. Bit far fetched. What's the source of the article?

[HeilSvenska]

Your Camry Hybrid is stained with blood.

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese labor bureau has ruled that one of Toyota's top car engineers died from working too many hours, the latest in a string of such findings in a nation where extraordinarily long hours for some employees has long been the norm. The man who died was aged 45 and had been under severe pressure as the lead engineer in developing a hybrid version of Toyota's blockbuster Camry line, said Mikio Mizuno, the lawyer representing his wife. The man's identity is being withheld at the request of his family, who continue to live in Toyota City where the company is based. In the two months up to his death, the man averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, according to Mizuno. He regularly worked nights and weekends, was frequently sent abroad and was grappling with shipping a model for the pivotal North American International Auto Show in Detroit when he died of ischemic heart disease in January 2006. The man's daughter found his body at their home the day before he was to leave for the United States. The ruling was handed down June 30 and will allow his family to collect benefits from his work insurance, Mizuno said. An officer at the Aichi Labor Bureau on Wednesday confirmed the ruling, but declined to comment on the record. In a statement, Toyota Motor Corp. offered its condolences and said it would work to improve monitoring of the health of its workers. There is an effort in Japan to cut down on deaths from overwork, known as "karoshi." Such deaths have steadily increased since the Health Ministry first recognized the phenomenon in 1987. Last year, a court in central Japan ordered the government to pay compensation to Hiroko Uchino, the wife of a Toyota employee who collapsed at work and died at age 30 in 2002. She took the case to court after her application to the local labor bureau for compensation was rejected.

[lincoln]

A big global company treats its workers like crap to increase profits for its shareholders, why is this a surprise to anyone? If companies didn't exploit their employees there would be no need for the many laws protecting workers. We are all responsible (me included), just see how many things you buy made in China where the workers don't even have the most basic of human rights - freedom. Sadly, unless we are all prepared to pay more for our goods then companies will continue to make them in the cheapest possible way.

[Mattk]

^Since when did Chinese workers not have freedom? Even in the days of Mao, they were allowed to return to their own homes at the conclusion of the day. Sure, they were ones provided by the government, but they weren't imprisoned.

Companies which produce goods through exploitation are not looked well upon, even if the allegations turn out to be wrong. Companies which simply fuck up because of stupidity are not looked well upon. This has been proven time and time again in the last couple of decades. For instance, the Exxon Valdez? Exxon Mobil's reputation was trashed. Companies are expected to be highly accountable these days.

[RC45]

Originally Posted by Mattk ^Since when did Chinese workers not have freedom? Even in the days of Mao, they were allowed to return to their own homes at the conclusion of the day. Sure, they were ones provided by the government, but they weren't imprisoned.

Are you kidding us?

Matt, you are far too educated to be this naive.

Seriously - Chinese not imprisoned? You know they have drive-through executions right? The idea of "free workers" in days of Mao is a absurd.

Originally Posted by Mattk Companies which produce goods through exploitation are not looked well upon, even if the allegations turn out to be wrong. Companies which simply fuck up because of stupidity are not looked well upon. This has been proven time and time again in the last couple of decades. For instance, the Exxon Valdez? Exxon Mobil's reputation was trashed. Companies are expected to be highly accountable these days.

Exxon Valdez what? WHo cares or even remembers that event? Other thatn some locals and the green peace's - no-one.

I had hoped for a better line of logic from you

[Mattk]

Seriously - Chinese not imprisoned?

Not officially, and not in the conventional sense. Come on, I've called Mao the biggest murderer in modern history, so he's bad, but he didn't keep the workforce in prisons! Limited in freedom, but certainly not un-free.

I'm sure people cared back then about Exxon Mobil's ship destroying environments! Not now, because it was a while back. Nike is perhaps a more recent example, being a decade later. I'm just saying that it's not worth it anymore to be unscrupulous. You'll be found out and you'll lose money. In fact, being a good global citizen is a good marketing tactic. Look how the Body Shop flogs its crap.

[RC45]

Originally Posted by Mattk I'm just saying that it's not worth it anymore to be unscrupulous. You'll be found out and you'll lose money. In fact, being a good global citizen is a good marketing tactic. Look how the Body Shop flogs its crap.

I hate to say it, but that is a very naive outlook.

[Mattk]

Why is it naive? It's the truth. It may not necessarily happen in all cases, but the principle still remains.