GE employees search for new options

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=65067&comview=1

The General Electric plant in Bloomington will close for good in 2010. But since September, GE has cut back production in south central Indiana.

In that time, employees have had more days off, working three weeks in the last two months, said Carven Thomas, president and business manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 2249.


IBEW Local 2249 President Carven Thomas stands outside the Bloomington GE refrigerator plant on Curry Pike last week prior to a continuing studies course at the facility. Thomas represents the 700-plus workers who will be laid off in the first quarter of 2010.
Geoffrey Miller • IDS


For many, it has been hard to cope with the lost hours and decreased pay, and the workers wonder what life will be like when the plant closes completely.

In January, GE announced plans to stop the production of side-by-side refrigerators – produced in Bloomington – after several rounds of layoffs. The jobs will move to Mabe, Mexico.

“I’ve been on a roller coaster of emotion probably until the last couple of months,” said Lana Norman, executive board chairperson for IBEW 2249 and an assembler at the GE plant. “I was relieved, and then it was like, ‘Oh, hell, what am I going to do?’”

“I still don’t think it’s hit a lot of people yet,” said Carla Gilliland, assembler and executive board member for IBEW 2249.

FULL story at link.

[fudge stripe cookays]

1. One of the first moves Obama makes....

should be imposing strict penalties (tax and otherwise) on any companies that moves one more American job offshore.

While our economy is hemorhagging jobs, there should be no way for these fuckers to do this. But having worked as a contractor at GE Healthcare for a miserable 3 week stretch last year, I don't put it past the fuckers at all.

GE is a bloated, inefficient, godawful fucking mess.

- Even their own IT department is outsourced to India
- I couldn't even get my own laptop for the first 2 weeks
- The admin requested my badge and did not give them my full name (only my nickname) so they would not issue me a badge, so I ended up driving all the way to the other outbuilding for nothing and having to go back several days later
- They essentially accused me of stealing a fucking laptop, although I had left it under the admin's desk, with a note telling her where I had left it, since she was not there.
- On top of all that, the complete prick of a "supervisor" ranted and raved neocon claptrap ALL DAY LONG in the cubicle next to me. I couldn't even concentrate on the job I was supposed to be doing.

I fucking hate GE. I won't even have their lightbulbs in my house anymore.

[exboyfil]

2. I am not sure how you plan to do this but I echo the sentiment

As long as someone is willing to do a job for less than you are willing to do it, then you have a problem.

We need to start by reexamining the whole concept of free trade. We should have an issue with every nation that has a substantial trade imbalance with us.

We were running a $700B annual trade deficit before the latest economic downturn, and, while a lot of that was for raw material and energy imports, the majority was for manufactured goods.

It gets better. We spend 4% of our GDP on defense while many of our trading partners with surpluses who are also our military allies spend much less (2.7% for S. Korea ($14B TD), 0.8% for Japan ($83B TD), 1.5% for Germany ($45B TD), 1.1% for Canada ($65B TD), 2.4% for the U.K. ($7B TD), 2.6% for France ($15B TD), and 0.5% for Mexico ($5B trade deficit)). Other countries for which we pay for the privilege of running a deficit with them include Ireland, Italy, and Taiwan.

Last year we had a $260B trade deficit with China, $28B with Venezuela, and $25B with Saudi Arabia. Think about it - our Navy keeps these sea lanes open so that potential enemies can undercut our manufacturing base in the case of China, and we prefer to import oil from our enemies using our military to protect these shipments instead of harnessing our own natural resources.

Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, and other founding fathers were complicit in stealing textile manufacturing secrets from England. How is practicing modern mercantilism any different than what they did? We need a government which recognizes that a vibrant industrial base is crucial for the overall health of the economy.

As consumers we will have to be willing to do with less for the same dollars. In addition to trade parity, we also need to consider other aspects which force down wages. Immigration (legal and illegal) in my opinion forces down wages (it is supply and demand). The ability to offshore work also forces down wages (much more difficult to address).

[fudge stripe cookays]

3. Change the tax code, I guess

Make the companies complete a form saying how many jobs were sent to Mexico or elsewhere, and make them pay hefty fines for each one of those. Like 10,000 per person or something.

Yeah, I don't know if it's realistic either. But when they realized that offshoring had become more expensive than leaving the jobs here, they'd have to learn to work with what they had. And for companies that continue to offshore in spite of it, it sure would pay off the national debt faster.