This is a fascinating look at Camacari - one of the most advanced auto assembly plants in the world. Its system of supplier integration makes it perhaps the "leanest" plant in the world. Why will there never be any plants like this in the US? Because union thugs run Ford's business in the US and they will never allow such a thing to happen.
As in the United States, assembly workers make more than those employed by suppliers, and the union is eager to ensure that work reserved for the higher paid Ford employees is not being done by lower wage supplier staff.
Labor expert Harley Shaiken of the University of California, Berkeley, said similar concerns are one reason why the Camaçari model is unlikely to be duplicated in the United States. He said the UAW has relaxed work rules at many Ford factories to allow workers to do more than one job, and has even allowed experiments with limited supplier integration.
But he said the UAW is concerned that giving too much on these fronts will just allow the companies to speed up production and transfer more and more work to lower-paid supplier employees.
