Future Looks Uncertain as Federal Court Rules Against Toyota Vote.
Today, employees at Toyota Australia were to vote to reduce working conditions in an effort to save the company $17 million, but in a turn of events, the Federal Court has ruled against the vote, with the judge saying it breaches the original 2011 agreement and also the Fair Work Act. Toyota are disappointed and are considering an appeal.
The vote would have been on over changes to 30 workplace practices and the Unions were urging employees not to take the deal but said workers were willing to forego conditions but wanted job reassurances .
So where does this leave Toyota? While Parliament play the blame game over Holdens departure, Prime Minister Tony Abbot says that Toyota is different to the others, with a much better export business. He has also stated there is $1B on the table from the government for Autsralian Automotive car makers and suppliers until 2015 and a further $1B from 2016 to 2020.
Are these reasons enough for Toyota to stay when many manufacturers have already made the move and 3 of the 4 Auto makers have decided to move already? Was Holdens decision the wake up call Government needed? Is it Governments fault, considering every Auto maker gets assistance in one way or another around the globe? You would have thought when Mitsubishi decided to go, it was a wake up call.
Professor Greg Bamber, an expert from the department of Monash University says it was the poor strategy in the car manufacturing industry that has led to its decline. He has pointed at the big car strategy and being more green but has also questioned whether the Parliament and the Federal Government handled the Holden situation properly too with yelling and slanging matches. South Australian Premier, Jay Weatherill says Holden could have been saved and blames the Coalition, but many say the writing was on the wall for a long time.
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