The reason Toyota treats their workers so good is to keep unions out. So indirectly/directly, the toyota workers receive higher remuneration for their labours/better treatment, because of the caw. This is true in most industries where the non unionized companies must compete for labour with unionized employers. Workers will always choose the better work environment to expend their labour, so non unionized companies have to be competitive with the unionized ones.
The argument of not needing unions because we have labour laws is rubbish. First off, labour laws vary from province to province, and for those in the federal section (ie. cross border transport, banks, etc.). Second, labour laws are relatively weak in many areas, and collective bargaining agreements generally bargain "rules" and "laws" above the minimum standard required by the legislation.
For the writer that mentioned "Imagine of police forces became unionized...", do your homework. Other then the RCMP who are not unionized (and cannot be due to a supreme court decision), most police agencies are unionized. But, like firefighters, paramedics, etc., they fall under essential services legislation (in almost every jurisdiction) which takes away the right to strike (ie. withhold their labour services to pressure the corporation, ie. government to meet their bargaining demands) but affords them final arbitration bargaining. Its deemed a fair trade off.
And if anyone makes a decision to purchase or not to purchase a product due to the fact that a company is unionized that is their perogative. A stupid one in my opinion as i look for the best product for the best price, but just like we have tree huggers and whale lovers, we also have right wing hacks that make their decisions based on ideology rather then common sense.
On the lighter side.....
One morning a blind bunny was hopping down the bunny trail and tripped
over a large snake and fell, kerplop right on his twitchy little nose.
'Oh please excuse me,' said the bunny. 'I didn't mean to trip over you,
but I'm blind and can't see.'
'That's perfectly all right,' replied the snake. 'To be sure, it was my
fault.. I didn't mean to trip you, but I'm blind too, and I didn't see
you coming. By the way, what kind of animal are you?'
'Well, I really don't know,' said the bunny. 'I'm blind, and I've never
seen myself. Maybe you could examine me and find out.'
So the snake felt the bunny all over, and he said, 'Well, you're soft,
and cuddly, and you have long silky ears, and a little fluffy tail and
a dear twitchy little nose. You must be a bunny rabbit!'
The bunny said, 'I can't thank you enough. But by the way, what kind of
animal are you?'
The snake replied that he didn't know either, and the bunny agreed to
examine him, and when the bunny was finished, the snake asked, 'Well,
what kind of an animal am I?'
The bunny had felt the snake all over, and he replied, 'You're cold,
you're slippery, and you haven't got any balls...You must be a
defence lawyer.