Toyota Motor Corp. is raising pay for its U.S. hourly production and skilled-trades autoworkers after its Detroit carmaking rivals reached tentative deals with their union that include generous pay raises.
Company spokesman Scott Vazin said the company isn’t sharing details of the wage increases announced on Tuesday, but a flyer circulating on social media showed starting next year, top-wage production workers would see a new wage rate of $34.80 per hour and skilled trades employees’ would max at $43.20 per hour. The automaker also decreased its timeline to the top pay to four years from eight.
Toyota has 14 manufacturing plants in North America and employs more than 32,000 workers, including 2,600 in San Antonio where the company’s Tundra pickups and Sequoia full-size SUV are made. The company’s North American headquarters is in Plano.
“At Toyota, we take great pride in showing respect for people,” Chris Reynolds, executive vice president of corporate resources at Toyota Motor North America, said in a statement. “We value our employees and their contributions, and we show it by offering robust compensation packages that we continually review to ensure that we remain competitive within the automotive industry.”
A new fall wage effective Sept. 25, according to the flyer, includes a 2%, 25-cent increase to $31.86 per hour for top-paid production workers and a 0.6%, 25-cent increase for top-paid skilled trade members to $39.50. The next wage increases effective Jan. 1 are 9.2% and 9.4%, respectively.
Meanwhile, workers starting at Toyota still would begin at $21.70, according to the flyer.
On Monday, the UAW reached a tentative agreement with General Motors Co. that ended a 46-day-long strike against the Detroit automaker and marked the union’s third deal with the Detroit Three automakers within a week.
The GM, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV deals include 25% in base wage increases through April 2028. They all are slated to cumulatively raise the top wage by 33% to more than $42 an hour when accounting for cost-of-living adjustments, according to the union.
UAW members at all three automakers still have to vote on the contracts.
UAW President Shawn Fain has said that he hopes to organize workers at more non-union automakers, such as Toyota and Tesla, in time for the union’s next round of contract talks in 2028.
Breana Noble, The Detroit News (TNS)
