Actually, I bet the share holders are happy to read this. For once, an american car manufacturer is not keeping their head in the sand and trying to figure out why they are being left in the dust, or even worse, thinking they are so far in the lead that they can't see their competitors.

Toyota took Ford's assembly line and worked it into a masterpiece of engineering and logistics. They then took the labor side and found ways to increase the worker's satisfaction while at the same time increasing the production. Now it is the workers that help to increase production while increasing worker comfort and satisfaction. toyota has made the whole process into a truely team aspect, and that is what the auto manufacturers are missing. Right now, the unions have cause so much excess cost while decreasing production, they only way the american manufacturers can compete is to cut the unions loose.

The toyota plants are a prime example of how you don't need a union to keep the worker's helath, safety, welfare, finances, etc... as a first priority.