Action in the Federal Court has today resulted in Toyota Australia not being able to proceed with its planned employee vote on the proposed changes to its workplace agreement terms and conditions.
The move comes after four employees lodged a complaint with the federal court that Toyota Australia could not vary its agreement until it has expired in March 2015.
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Justice Bromberg on Thursday supported the four employees and directed Toyota Australia to stop any action it was taking to vary the workplace agreement, including the employee vote scheduled for Friday (13 December, 2013).
Toyota Australia president and CEO Max Yasuda said he was disappointed with the outcome.
“We believe that we are within our rights to vary our workplace agreement provided the majority of our employees support the changes through a formal vote,” Yasuda said in a statement.
“The company is doing everything that it can to secure the future for our employees and their families.
“GM Holden’s planned closure in 2017 will put our manufacturing operations and the local supplier network under unprecedented pressure, so it is now more important than ever before that we make urgent changes.
“A decision will be made next year on the next generation Camry and export program and we need to take urgent action if we want to stay at the negotiating table for future investments.
“The proposed changes were designed to remove outdated and uncompetitive terms and conditions that make it difficult to compete with other Toyota plants throughout the world.”
Toyota Australia is now considering its options, including whether it will appeal the decision.
