Honda's decision to hire from a 20-county radius in Indiana for its new Greensburg assembly plant is part of a long-standing company approach, not an attempt to keep out union workers, a senior executive said last week.
"It's part of our approach to be imbedded in the communities where we operate,'' said Tom Shoupe, senior vice president at Honda of America Manufacturing prior to a Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber-sponsored seminar Thursday on the auto industry. One way to do that is to focus hiring from the immediate vicinity, he said.
The United Auto Workers, which hasn't been able to organize any of the transplant auto assembly plants, has accused Honda of trying to exclude thousands of union members in Indiana by limiting hiring to the 20 counties adjacent to the Greensburg plant, 60 miles west of Cincinnati. The counties include Dearborn, Ohio and Franklin in the Cincinnati metropolitan area.
Shoupe pointed out the 20-county region includes all of Indianapolis and surrounding Marion County. The Greensburg plant, slated to open next fall producing four-door Honda Civics, has received more than 30,000 applications for the 2,000 workers it expects to hire.
One frequently overlooked reason the automotive plants locate in rural areas is environmental, he said. EPA rules make it difficult for large manufacturing operations like auto assembly plants to locate in a metropolitan area, he said.
Shoupe, a native of Batesville, Ind. who grew up in Butler County, said limiting hiring to surrounding counties has been a Honda practice. He said the company limited hiring in Marysville, Ohio, to the 15 surrounding counties.
But finding qualified workers is becoming an increasing challenge for the auto industry, just as it is for all manufacturing, said Jim Wiseman, vice president for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing in Erlanger.
"Over the next five years, 40 percent of the industry's workers will be retiring," he said.
"We place national ads for skilled workers and get five applications."
Email This Page!