New York Times correspondent Micheline Maynard wrote: “The Prius has become, in a sense, the four-wheel equivalent of those popular rubber issue bracelets in yellow and other colors—it shows the world that its owner cares.” (New York Times, July 4, 2007).
Yes... Prius drivers "care".
But what exactly do they care about?
Fuel economy, of course! In fact, a whole 36 percent of Prius owners stated "higher fuel economy" as their main reason for driving one.
Wow... 36%!
That begs the question: why does everyone else drive one?
Well, 57% said they purchased a Prius because it “makes a statement about me”.
(Incidentally, this got me to wondering... why did the other 7% buy one? Certainly not for it's great looks or superior performance.)
I'd venture a guess and say that the people listed above weren't thinking about saving a few $ at the pump when they bought their Prius' since their weekly income is likely more than I make in a whole year. So I'll go out on a limb and put them into the "57%" category.
So what exactly is the "statement" that the Prius makes about it's owner?
That he or she is environmentally concerned and is taking steps to show he or she has made a commitment to protect and conserve our natural resources.
Of course. That makes perfect sense.
Or maybe the statement that 57% of Prius owners want their car making for them is "all the cool people have one, so I want one too!" (That herd of sheep mentality worked pretty good in high-school... and it seems to work among adults as well.)
Or maybe, the real statement the Prius is making for it's owner is "I support Toyota's labor practices and the conditions under which the Prius and other Toyota vehicles are made in Japan".
What labor practices and working conditions? The ones that almost everyone, celebrities included, know virtually nothing about.
These ones:
Low wage temps: a full one-third, or 10,000 Toyota assembly line workers, are low wage temp and subcontract workers who earn less than 60 percent of what full time workers do. Temps have few rights and are hired under contracts as short as four months.
Overworked to death: Mr Kenichi Uchino died of overwork at Toyota’s Prius plant when he was just 30. He was routinely working 14-hour shifts and putting in anywhere from 107 to 155 hours of overtime a month—at least 61 ½ hours of which were unpaid. Toyota said the hours were “voluntary” and therefore not paid. Mr. Uchino left behind his young wife, a one-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter. The Japanese people even have a word for being overworked to death: “karoshi.” An estimated 200 to 300 workers a year suffer serious illness, depression and death due to overwork.
Sweatshops and human trafficking: Toyota’s parts supply chain is riddled with sweatshop abuse, including the human trafficking of tens of thousands of foreign guest workers—mostly from China and Vietnam—to Japan, where they are stripped of their passports and forced to work grueling hours seven days a week, often earning less than half the legal minimum wage. Sixteen-hour shifts, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight are common.
Linked to Burmese Dictators: Toyota—through the Toyota Tsusho Corporation which is part of the Toyota Group—is involved in several joint business ventures with the ruthless military dictators of Burma, which put revenues into the pockets of the dictators who use it to repress Burma’s 50 million people.
Toyota criticized by the ILO: The UN/International Labor Organization points to Toyota’s suppression of freedom of association at its plant in the Philippines as “an illustration of how a multinational company, apparently with little regard for corporate responsibility, has done everything in its power to prevent recognition and certification of the Toyota Motor Company Workers Association.” (ILO Working Group, December 2003.)
You can read all the details on the National Labor Committee website HERE.
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