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A group of Kentucky community activists including labor and church leaders will gather outside Toyota Motor Corp.'s oldest and biggest U.S. assembly plant today to deliver recommendations, including limits on the use of lower-paid temporary workers, to improve working conditions at the factory.
The group's high-profile appearance, which will be followed by a news conference, is taking place amid mounting efforts by the United Auto Workers union to organize foreign-owned plants in the United States to offset the drop in its membership rolls.
Toyota's Georgetown plant is a prime target because of the Japanese automaker's prominence in the U.S. market and because some of its workers already have expressed discontent in lawsuits.
The group, calling itself the Kentucky Workers' Rights Board, drew up its recommendations after a June 10 hearing that included accounts from current and former plant workers and labor experts. The workers' complaints ranged from what they described as unjustified firings, on-the-job injuries and reliance on lower-paid temporary workers.
The group issued a statement Monday announcing a news conference today in Georgetown following a meeting with Toyota's management.
But the Japanese automaker said no meeting was planned.
"We've declined to meet with them," said Mike Goss, a spokesman for Toyota's U.S. manufacturing subsidiary in Erlanger, Ky. "We're happy to accept the written recommendations and we'll decide later how to respond."
Toyota has not commented on the allegations raised at the June 10 hearing.
"We feel we have very open communication with our team members. Over the years, our team members have shown little or no interest in having representation by a third party," he said.
The UAW declined to comment Monday.
So far, the union has not succeeded in recent efforts to organize Japanese-owned transplants. That's partly because the workers are paid more than the prevailing local manufacturing wages and because the jobs are viewed as secure.
"My sense from being in the community and having chance conversations is that on balance, the great majority of the work force at the plant are content," said Tom Prather, a magistrate on the Scott County fiscal court in Kentucky.
The Georgetown plant, which produces several models including the best-selling Camry sedan and now the Camry hybrid, is considered one of the best plants in the United States in terms of both quality and productivity.
But there have been instances of discontent, such as a suit filed by paint-shop workers seeking compensation for the time spent putting on and removing specialized clothing. The Kentucky Workers' Rights Board's recommendations will include previously announced proposals, such as the creation of a safety committee with elected worker representatives, and a 90-day limit on the use of temporary workers. They are paid $13 an hour -- less than half the wages earned by full-time Toyota workers, according to a UAW release published after the June hearing. | 
