Toyota Texas workers paint fences, haul trash as plants go idle

Toyota forced to find alternative uses for US workers

11/10/2008 11:29. Toyota Motor Corp. assembly-line workers in San Antonio are spending two weeks picking up trash, scrubbing graffiti and clearing brush from city parks while their $1.3 billion pickup truck plant sits idle.

Japan's largest automaker, which counts on the U.S. to take 29 percent of vehicle production, is keeping employees busy to help them weather the first slump in annual sales in 13 years.

With the credit crunch deterring buyers from showrooms, Toyota suspended truck-

assembly operations in Texas and Indiana, and reduced initial output plans for a new sport utility vehicle factory in Canada to half the original target. It employs 43,000 workers in North America.

By shutting factories, idling workers and offering below-market financing, Toyota is following the example set by General... // Austin American-Statesman