I work for Transfreight, a logistics provider for Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc. (TMMI) as a truck driver. About three months ago many of us were laid off due to TMMI shutting down production. We were called back the tenth of November. We worked our first shift the eleventh. Exactly one week later, on the 18th, we were told that production was going to be cut again and it would affect our work force.
I had been fortunate and was accepted as a full time employee at a major plastics manufacturer in Evansville, IN. My benefits were due to begin December 1st. We have been told my two year old daughter possibly has CP. I have a tumor on my pituitary that requires medication. If I had stayed with the plastics company, there was a very good possibility that all of our medical problems would be considered preexisting. Going back to Transfreight gave me my insurance back immediately with no preexisting. I went back.
I made the wrong decision and I will have to live with it. I was told by my supervisor that there were no layoffs planed in the near future. I was trying to do what I thought was best for my little girl.
Since I have worked at TMMI, they have never made a decision in a week; they new well beforehand that they were going to cut production. They plan months in advance. They also new that they would not be able to hire enough drivers and get them trained quickly enough to start production when it was scheduled to start.
TMMI aloud Transfreight to recall us, many of us left full time positions to come back, knowing they would no longer need us after 18 December.
This may not be illegal in the state of Indiana, but it is certainly unethical. TMMI prides itself in taking care of its employees, but even with a 2.5 billion dollar profit, it can't afford to take care of the employees that it couldn't run without. Our paychecks may not say Toyota, but we work hard toward the same result.
I know times are hard in the automotive industry. I am not complaining that they aren't able to keep us. I am saying that calling us back with full knowledge they were going to have to let us go again is deceitful. They could have at least provided the information and let us make an informed decision.
For a company that wants to be seen as altruistic and good for the community it resides in, TMMI has done a horrible, inhumane, and down right selfish thing to those of us who have served them well.
I would recommend that everyone stay away from any company that contract to TMMI. You will be treated as a second class citizen and disposed of and taken advantage of at the whim of the company.
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