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Rebuilding American Manfacturing
A feeling of déjà-vu
REBUILDING THE U.S INDUSTRIAL
BASE IS ESSENTIAL
By Ric Casilli
In the late 1980’s and into the 1990’s, IUE (International Union of Electrical Workers) Local 201 (Lynn Ma.) began carrying many articles concerning the erosion of the U.S Industrial base. At the time, IUE International President Bill Bywater was one of the leading union spokesmen in the country against the excesses of so called “Free Trade” and the rapid loss of manufacturing jobs in this country. After the erosions of most of the textile, rubber, steel and auto industries in the early 1980’s, we knew we would be next.
The Electrical Union News(Local 201’s paper) and IUE International Newsfor years pounded away at the dangers of destroying the foundation of the US economy (manufacturing). Corporations and most politicians pushed the great advantages of a “new economy” based on services, finances, and “high tech”. Officers and our union Board Members, as well as featured union paper columns warned that this policy was going to sink the entire economy and cause a major crisis. Local 201 did not buy the Corporate, politicians or Wall Street wrap. It is difficult now to not say…”We told you so!”
This ominous warning largely fell on death ears. Corporations had become multi-national and were shipping U.S manufacturing jobs out of the country at an alarming rate. Outsourcing jobs overseas became the norm and you were an obstructionist or protectionist if you dared complained about it. Most politicians (Democrats and Republicans alike) mouthed the corporate line that this was the new practical reality and America would be “OK” by just getting rid of the “dirty” manufacturing jobs and building up service and financial industries. Local 201 knew this was a crock.
Clintonian Democrats with loads of Republican support jammed through NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and the floodgates opened with the WTO (World Trade Organization) and a ton of other so called “Free” Trade Agreements. It became clear the “Free” was the operative word and that companies now were “free” to put our jobs on a “barge” and ship them to the lowest cost ‘poles” all over the world. In the meantime, Wall Street Brokers were racking up their speculative profits and stocks were soaring based on the misery of thousands of working stiffs losing their jobs. Our Ametek plant in Wilmington Ma.and GE plant in Lynn Ma. were devestated by foreign outsourcing. It became a world of yuppies crowing about their great financial and stock deals and a world of greedy CEO’s boosting their salaries in amounts never hereto ever dreamed of. The end result of their new great “vision” for America lie now in the battered U.S economy of 2009 – with massive unemployment, demolished 401K accounts, credit crunches, tax increases, massive deficits, a major health care crisis, and city and states budgets crumbling. The mask had been stripped off the Bernie Madoffs and Ken Lays of the world.
Manufacturing (making things) was the industrial BASE of this country. It was jobproducing, taxproducing, incomeproducing andprofitproducing. The entire infrastructure– health care, education, city services, state services, senior services, roads, rapid transit, tourism etc. sat on top of this economic base. When you destroy the base, everything built upon it begins collapsing. It is extremely difficult to fix any of these issues without starting to fix the base.
There were those that are guilty of intentionally driving this country into the ground to line their own pockets. There are others that were guilty of being misled or blindly following their lead. Yet, even today after the massive economic meltdown, most politicians and corporate leaders still don’t “get it” or care to “get it”. This is so discouraging
However, at least the discussion has finally begun to surface and is being raised anew by a few people from very different walks of life then just us. There have been some recentquotesfrom a variety of writers from different organizations and backgrounds on the subject, including GE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Immelt.
For example, Mr. Immelt was quoted in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club on June 26, 2009 as saying “ I have never heard an American CEO saythat the United States should be leading in exports Well, I am saying it today; This country ought to be, and we can be, not just the world’s leading
Market but a leading exporter as well…..we should set a national goal to create high value-added jobs and manufacturing jobs be no less then 20 percent of total employment, about twice what it is today…America is ingreat need of an updated manufacturing infrastructure….we plan to‘insource’ capabilities like aviation components manufacturing…..Business should invest in new American jobs…We have lost sight of the core competencies of a successful modern economy”.
Unless working people demand the government ,with some corporate support, shift its policies drastically to deal with this ill economic base, then it will be only a matter of time before the economy totally crashes again.
Ric Casilli is Business Agent of IUE-CWA (Manufacturing Division of the Communications Workers of America) Local 201, a large industrial Local in Lynn Massachusetts. The Local represents approximately 1900 workers at the GE Aviation plant in Lynn, 22 workers at Ametek Aerospace in Wilmington Ma. and another 230 members at various other businesses in Boston and the North Shore.
