Toyota wants to take tax money from the hard hit state of Califorina.

Toyota Motor Corp. is closing California's last automobile plant, but that isn't keeping the factory from asking the state for $2million in taxpayer money for recent training that made some of its workers better car builders.
The automaker says it deserves to be paid back money it spent on training this year at its Fremont plant under a Feb. 27 agreement with the state's Employment Training Panel.

But critics are incensed, noting that there won't be any more auto assembly plants left in the state where workers can make use of their training.

"This has the appearance of some kind of dreadful corporate welfare," said Barry Broad, a labor union lobbyist who serves as the panel's acting chairman. "We can't in good conscience give money to train people how to do jobs that are about to disappear forever."

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carguy68 - 9/24/2009 11:01:40 AM

-2 Boost

F U toyota I would never give you my money you P.O.S company.

_43LE - 9/24/2009 12:05:58 PM

+1 Boost

Why are we not surprised that 1UAW posted this article? So much hate here on Autospies.

thstone - 9/24/2009 3:00:50 PM

+2 Boost

As a California resident and a big taxpayer (yes, i am in the top bracket), I want to know why the hell didn't the state require Toyota to maintain a manufacturing plant in the state for 5-10 years in return for funding any training?

M35MT - 9/25/2009 4:33:02 PM

+3 Boost

Ouch...top tax bracket in CA? You might as well move to Europe!

lexusrox123 - 9/24/2009 6:29:17 PM

+5 Boost

California is a mess, both tax-wise and law-wise. Crazy.

veyron1001 - 9/24/2009 7:53:45 PM

+1 Boost

Hey GM cough up 160billion that you wasted.

sdcarguy - 9/24/2009 7:58:07 PM

+2 Boost

Bad form Toyota. Already cost you a lot more in lost goodwill and sales in your largest market.

upwards - 9/25/2009 2:45:31 AM

+1 Boost

If we do pay toyota will the jobs stay?

M35MT - 9/25/2009 4:37:30 PM

+2 Boost

So let's review the facts:

An automaker is handed a deal by the State of CA saying they will pay them X amount of money to train people for Jobs. Hmmm...sounds like government 'stimulus' (waste of money).

Apparently there was no clause to offer a certain number of jumps for a certain amount of time - WTF approved this in CA? The politicians probably skipped out for lunch (probably pulled pork).

Toyota will have their hands full with this one. If it was GM, the Fed bailout would cover it.

XYZZ - 9/26/2009 4:02:47 AM

+3 Boost

caifornians should be glad they even HAD jobs at the fremont plant for the past 20 or so years.

GM had already CLOSED IT DOWN way back in the mid-1980s. in the deal with toyota for a joint operation, GM only put in this already shuttered plant. toyota brought in all the new tooling and assembly lines, as well as a fully developed product to build there.

gm largely got into it because it cost them almost nothing! and they hoped to learn some of the toyota secrets in the deal. (the local managers and workers did, but corporate GM back in detroit was slow to apply the lessons, until they really started hurting.)