In January, Toyota announced that because of falling car sales and the high Australian dollar it would need to cull it's Altona workforce by ten percent. Yesterday, the chopper fell on three hundred and fifty jobs !
Terminating employees - or " the sack " as it is called - is never a pleasant experience for either party. There is no " perfect way " to deliver bad news, but many people would think that Toyota took a better course than simply handing out pink slips to those selected to go at the end of a work shift.
The employees selected for termination were taken by bus to a reception centre in the suburbs and handed a folder that contained information on how the terminated had been selected. Factors were represented by points allocated, and these covered attendance records, holding Toyota values - and safety ! There is criticism that security guards were present at this meeting.
Those ending their employment at Toyota claim that union shop stewards, health and safety representatives, and those on Workcover were unfairly selected for removal. There is the prospect that eighty of the disgruntled may go to court to challenge their dismissal.
This seems to come down to a tussle between the rights of an employer to take factors such as work attendance and number of sick days taken, and general attitude - as demonstrated by leadership of a militant union - into consideration when making a selection.
Unions usually embrace the concept of " last one employed equals first one dismissed " as a tactic of selecting those to be terminated. That simply elevates length of service over the value that employee may be capable of delivering.
In recent times, the GFC has accelerated instances where big employment numbers have to be culled and employers have learned a lot from outcomes. Sackings can become highly emotional and in some cases this emotion has erupted into riots and sit ins.
At least yesterdays event spared those selected for termination to be humiliated by receiving the bad news in the presence of their work mates, who will continue employment, and the method used is far preferable than to be told by a letter in the mail, an email - or worst of all - a SMS suddenly appearing on a mobile phone.
No matter how it is delivered, the unalterable fact is that bad news - is still " bad news " !
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