Toyota Australia implemented on Monday the job cuts it announced earlier this year on its Altona assembly facilities in Melbourne, which the Japanese carmaker has attributed to shrinking orders and the constantly rising Australian dollar.
In his statement issued on January, Toyota Australia chief executive revealed that a total of 350 employees in Altona will be given their walking papers on April, 320 of them to be cut from the production line while another 30 coming from the trade maintenance department.
The sacking, according to Toyota spokeswoman Beck Angel, will be rolled out following 13 weeks of review that considered the workers skills and behaviour on the job, which, Angel added, was mutually approved both by management and union officials.
According to the Australian Associated Press (AAP), Toyota officials confirmed the hiring of additional security personnel to provide extra layers of precaution, which Angel said was "quite normal for a redundancy process."
The whole procedure, however, was criticised by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), which accused Toyota of treating the sacked employees without dignity.
After negotiations that lasted about 10 weeks, AMWU representative Lee Diehm told BusinessDay on Monday that he was appalled by the manner the employees were informed on their sad fate, which he characterised as 'absolutely disgusting'.
"They are driving a bus around the site and pulling people off the production line." Diehm claimed.
But company insisted that its staggered approach was meant to soften the impact of Toyota's unfortunate decision, which Angel said will be implemented from Monday through Tuesday and during the two production shifts.
"Management want to have one on one meetings with everyone, so that will be happening on a shop by shop basis," the spokeswoman explained.
Another Toyota representative, Glenn Campbell, clarified that the procedure and the extra security guards were not meant to intimidate the sacked workers as claimed by union officials.
"They are just there to oversee ... It is not heavy-handed. It's just part of the process we need to go through. They are there mainly to oversee and to help workers move from one part of the (plant) to other areas," Campbell said in an interview with Fairfax media.
He reiterated that Toyota is doing its best to cushion the impact of the sacking procedure, which he added should all be wrapped up by late Tuesday.
Prior to the event today, Campbell disclosed that all affected workers have been given the fair chance of being included in the redundancy identification scheme, which he said was completed last week.
The result was handed down last Friday, Campbell said, assuring too that separated employees will be given the necessary support, which apart from severance pay also includes counselling.
A good numbers of the workers who got axed served the company close to 20 years and appear clueless on what to do next after hearing the sad news today.
"I've been coming here for 18 years and that's all I know, so now I've got to look for something else," 41-year-old Charles Allen was quoted as saying by AAP on Monday after he emerged from the Altona compound.
Source:IBTimes
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