AAT counters union claims

AutoAlliance Thailand (AAT) has countered claims by its union that the workers now manning its assembly lines lack experience and that car quality could suffer.

"There have been no new hires at AAT in relation to our lockout as the company remains focused on reinstating our current, experienced and committed workforce," Kiyotaka Shobuda, president of the Ford-Mazda joint venture, said in a statement yesterday.

The Ford-Mazda Thailand Union claimed that the workers who returned to the job after accepting a new pay and bonus agreement were newly recruited and car quality problems could result.

Mr Shobuda said: "All AAT employees clearly understand that the reputation and success of the company rests on the world-class quality and safety of each vehicle that it produces and ships."

Prior to resuming production yesterday, he said, AAT conducted rigorous and comprehensive checks to ensure the readiness of the line.

AAT announced a worker lockout last Tuesday, citing the failure of negotiations with the union on pay and bonuses as well as "sabotage" at the plant. The union denied any connection with the incidents.

AAT earlier said the majority of its existing employees across all job functions had accepted and signed the new company agreement and returned to work. The total of 2,650 includes approximately 550 office staff and 2,100 production workers, of whom 1,000 are full-time and 1,100 subcontracted.

Running a single shift at AAT requires 1,658 production workers, the company said.

"We have begun operating a single shift, and plan to slowly increase production over the next few days," he said.