Workers at Mazda Plant OK Bonus for Attendance
FLAT ROCK, Mich. — Hourly workers at Mazda Motor Manufacturing Corp. have voted for fat cash bonuses for themselves for perfect attendance and automatic dismissal for anyone missing 15 days of work a year.
The vote, held Monday and Tuesday, is the latest effort to curb high absenteeism, which auto makers regard as a serious roadblock to boost quality and cut costs.
Last week, Osamu Nobuto, Mazda’s top U.S. official, cited high absenteeism, especially on Monday and Friday, as one of several practices that he said American unions need to correct.
By a vote of 1,120 to 434, United Auto Workers Local 3000 chose a “no-fault†absenteeism policy, effective immediately.
The policy calls for:
- An annual $1,500 bonus for perfect attendance.
- Sixty percent of regular pay on the first four absences per year.
- Automatic dismissal after 15 absences, or 6.25% of scheduled work days annually.
Under the plan, workers would be eligible for 15 sick days or personal days each year, not including holidays, vacations or pre-approved sick days.
As the same time, workers rejected a plan that included a $500 bonus for perfect attendance, 60% of regular pay for the first 14 absences per year and termination after the 15th absence.
Only 88 workers voted to retain an old policy, which the union viewed as unfair because it gave unit leaders or foremen wide discretion in disciplining absent workers.
Between January and June, manufacturing workers nationwide missed 2% of scheduled work days because of unscheduled absenteeism, according to the Bureau of National Affairs, a Washington research group.
Jim Gill, a Mazda spokesman, said unscheduled absenteeism at the Flat Rock plant is “at or below industry standards.†But he said Mazda still suffers because it does not have a large pool of replacement workers.
Unscheduled absenteeism is about 9% at General Motors Corp., while at Chrysler Motors Corp. it is 4.4%, spokesmen said Tuesday. Ford Motor Co. declined to provide a figure.
