August 2005 - Let’s Get Smart, Not Prove We’re Dumb

By Anthony J. Lockwood

The blogs and maillists are aflame this hot July 12th. Toyota decided to build a second plant in Ontario, Canada,  passing up millions of dollars of corporate welfare from such states as Alabama and Mississippi.

But that’s not what’s really got ‘em going. The comments of Gerry Fedchun, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association of Canada, were gas tossed on the flames.

According to a CP (Canadian Press) report on the CBC’s website (linked here), Mr. Fedchun said that, “the level of the workforce in general ]in Canada] is so high that the training program you need for people, even for people who have not worked in a Toyota plant before, is minimal compared to what you have to go through in the southeastern United States.”

The CP goes on to report that Fedchun also said that other Japanese automakers had all sorts of “difficulties getting new plants up to full production in recent years in Mississippi and Alabama due to an untrained—and often illiterate—workforce. In Alabama,  trainers had to use ‘pictorials’ to teach some illiterate workers how to use high-tech plant equipment.”

In other words, Toyota decided it was cheaper and easier to train people in Ontario no matter what subsidy a US state came up with. Any profit reaped from the initial deal would be spent educating workers to bring them up to its standards, and the effort and expense incurred in doing so would not be worth it.

As you might expect, the online yapalotzzi in their lubberly yet garrulous manner avow they’ll never buy a Toyota and that anyone who does is a traitor. “USA. USA,” they thunder.

Only a lonely handful of voices see a warning in Fedchun’s jingoistically tainted statement. But what if a seam of truth is hidden in Fedchun’s assessment of US workers?

Even assuming that Fedchun’s comments are extremely lowbrow, how come our millions—that, apparently, way outbid the Canadians—were not enough to turn Toyota’s head?

Now, we all know Toyota is a business, not a humanitarian outfit. If there is any certainty in business, it is that companies ruthlessly do whatever it takes to keep the profits coming. Morals, local sensibilities, history, loyalty, even signed contracts are no obstacle to the pursuit of profit. Look at the Rust Belt, the empty cubicle next to you,  or back upon your own resume, and you’ll see a history of businesses deciding what’s right for them.

We could not offer Toyota enough money to set up shop here because our workers ain’t smart enough, says Fedchun. This is a wake up call because he insults you and me too. And what if he’s a tenth right?

So, rather than thump our chests, flip off Toyota, and vilify the messenger, let’s figure out how much truth there is to what was said. And then let’s go about fixing it.

Can we afford not to? Let’s not be dumb about this, let’s get smart.

Thanks, Pal—Lockwood