“Being a union delegate is a good precedent for …” / Argentina News

Daniel Herrero, president of Toyota Argentina, spoke about the labor reform that was implemented in the company with the endorsement of the Smata union and surprised with a phrase. “Being a union steward for a time is a good precedent for a managerial position“said Herrero.

The local manager of the Japanese automaker explained that the alliance he achieved with the mechanics’ union to modify shifts and increase productivity has to do with the fact that “we both want the same thing.”

“Being a union delegate for a time is a good precedent for having a managerial position. There begins the change that the union participates in the decisions of the company because it is part of the future,” Herrero said in radio statements.

The businessman explained: “We both want the same thing and we are going to fight over a lot of things, but at the end of the story, the company and the union want to grow, create more jobs, so that we all earn more than we earned yesterday.”

“When it comes to the labour reform, I know it is hard. We have a spectacular union and it was great for us. If you have a good relationship with the union and you have a good negotiation of your agreement, no problem, “he added.

On the other hand, he defended the quarterly joint scheme: “The salary has to be good. If we want it to be good and the rate to be good, in Argentina for 10 years the wage policy has been inflation at the expired quarter. We do not argue. We do not stop. We pay good wages. Be careful, if I pay a good salary, then that the operator is good to be able to be a global competitor. ”

Toyota: the unprecedented labor reform that employees accepted

The Japanese automaker Toyota advanced steadily with a change in the labor scheme that allowed it to apply a 5×2 week and thus cover the gap that was generated on Saturdays.

The company proposed more than 8 thousand additional pesos by Saturday to each employee of the cell whose turn it is to work and promised 1,012 passes to the plant. The workers met in assembly in early October and voted in favor of the new scheme.

In this way, Toyota promoted a labour reform for its Buenos Aires plant in Zárate, with the aim of increasing production and solving the problem posed with the operators, who were reluctant to work overtime on weekends due to the cut they suffered due to the payment of Income Tax.

“This situation is reached because on Saturdays, if we worked, of the 5,000 pesos that we had to collect, we would take 4,500 pesos Profits“explained a company source quoted by InfoGremiales.

The proposal was presented to the representatives of the SMATA mechanics, who transferred it to the terminal workers, who finally endorsed it on October 1.

The axis of the reform is that, from its implementation, there will be cells of 6 workers who will have to work on Saturdays, in a noon shift, as a mandatory shift. As a counterpart, they will have free every Sunday, plus one weekday that will be mobile.

In the draft approached by Toyota, the firm proposed a compensation of 8,077 pesos for every Saturday worked.

The labor scheme proposed by Toyota

In this way, the automaker can have the plant in operation during more hours to increase the manufacturing volume of the Hilux and SW4 models.

The idea of ​​the automaker descended from the beginning was well considered by the union SMATA and, later, of the workers gathered in assembly. In fact, times were sped up and the vote took place a week ahead of schedule.

SMATA and Toyota pressure

Days after the vote, it transpired that SMATA representatives exerted strong pressure on the workers, who urged them to vote in favor of the reform through a speech by the union leader Iván Almirón. “We need the approval of all of us. We all need to be convinced that we want to take this factory to another level,” Almirón said at the time.

“We are talking about that if this goes well, if this is approved, we will have the possibility that 1,000 hired colleagues, some of whom are already turning four years old, can remain effective,” he said. And he added: “We are talking that between now and 2023, if this goes well and with the effort of all of you, with your approval, we can achieve 3,500 more job positions.”

The union member affirmed that the Japanese company told the union that if the reform was not approved, the 1,000 hired would be left without a job, production would not increase and they would lose another 3,500 new jobs.. “This is one part of the negotiation. The other part, the ugliest, we are also going to tell you. If this is not approved, if this does not come out, this project has to be suspended,” Almirón revealed.

Implementation plan

Effectivisations

As a hook, Toyota He also proposed incorporating into the agreement the implementation of 1,012 workers who entered the Japanese automaker under the temporary modality. It would be everyone who joined the plant until August 30 of this year.

“Although the salaries in Toyota are good, there is a collective approach in the companions because a lot was lost purchasing power“explained sources from the plant.

With the modification of the working week, it was the first time it was implemented in the sector and it became the first step to modify the collective agreement of mechanics in search of greater productivity.