Toyota: 1; IAM: 0
The IAM has backed down, at least for now. Reuters reports that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers withdrew its bid to organize Toyota’s Cambridge, Ontario plant after they found out they didn’t have enough signatures to force a vote. When the IAM filed for the vote, they said they had “well over” the threshold of 40 percent of the total work force required by Canadian law to hold a vote. But then Toyota filed a modified list of employees showing they have 4,025 workers instead of the 3,100 the union claimed they had. Global Insight analyst Aaron Bragman warned “it would not be in Toyota’s interests for the plant to unionize” because it could affect future Canadian investments by Toyota and the other Asian automakers. Regardless, the IAM said they’d continue their efforts to unionize the plant.