Rally to Save the Last Car Factory in California

This is really sad. The UAW is having a rally on Saturday the 23rd at 10:00 AM in front of Wondries Toyota to ask Toyota not to shut down the NUMMI plant in Fremont.

The plant was a joint venture with GM, and I guess GM's troubles are affecting that factory, which is the last car factory in California.

They make cars like the Tacoma, Corolla, Chevy Nova, Geo Prizm, Pontiac Vibe, and Toyota Matrix there.

It's also the only Toyota plant that has a unionized workforce, meaning that the workers there qualify for the great benefits and whatnot that other UAW workers get. They got unionized as part of the deal with GM. (Maybe UAW should have worked with the unions in Japan, Germany and Korea to try and organize the plants that opened up here. Why aren't they all in a single union? It's a single industry, and the national borders seem to barely exist.)

Maybe I'm showing my age, but, I remember when there were Ford and GM plants in LA County!

My family's owned four cars from NUMMI, including one bought last year, and they've all been "totally awesome." They last forever, are well made, and a good deal despite the relatively high sticker price. It's almost a perfect family car, because by the time it starts to wear out, around 10 years on, you can give it to your child.

My brother in law has a Corolla from the 1980s, and it still runs. What a car!