(Source: NPR & SFChronicle.com)

Several hundred auto workers rallied near New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont Thursday afternoon in support of an incentive plan, backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, designed to persuade Toyota to keep building cars at the plant.

The rally drew local business leaders and elected officials who are working with the governor’s office and state legislators, as well as with the Port of Oakland and PG&E, on a plan that includes tax breaks, improved transportation facilities, and lower electricity costs to make it economical for Toyota to stay in Nummi.

During the boom years of the U.S. car business, California was dotted with auto plants. Now the sole survivor may be on the verge of closing.

The New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or NUMMI, was a unique joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, but the partnership is now history, and thousands of jobs are on the line in Fremont, which can’t afford to lose them.

The NUMMI plant sits in the middle of Fremont, a bedroom suburb of San Francisco. It has cranked out cars such as the Toyota Corolla and, until recently, the Pontiac Vibe for the past 25 years.

It is a point of pride among members of the United Auto Workers that their plant, which can produce abut 400,000 vehicles a year, is known for its high-quality cars. NUMMI began as an experiment tying unionized U.S. workers with Japanese management practices.

“It was a big question for both sides,” says Harley Shaiken, a labor expert at University of California, Berkeley. “The result was NUMMI, and the result was an extraordinary success story.”

Toyota could now decide, however, that the cost of going it alone is too much to bear.

Ever since GM went bankrupt, Toyota has been left negotiating with what’s left of the U.S. automaker. News reports in Japan say that Toyota is ready to pull out, though the company insists no decision has been made.

NUMMI is Toyota’s only unionized shop in the U.S. and also the only factory in North America where Toyota would have to deal with the UAW, and industry observers have suggested that union concessions would have to be part of any deal to keep the plant open and is widely believe that this fact could affect Toyota’s decision.

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