NUMMI Closing Highlights Need for U.S. Manufacturing Policy
Closing the New United Motors Manufacturing Inc. automotive plant in California will eliminate 25,000 jobs in the state and cost taxpayers $2.3 billion to replace the jobs lost, according to a March 3 report by University of California professor Harley Shaiken.
The Daily Labor Report (subscription required) notes:
California and municipalities near the Fremont, Calif., plant will lose nearly a billion dollars of revenue in the decade after the plant closes, according to a blue-ribbon panel formed by state Treasurer Bill Lockyer (D).
Using estimates by the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, the report found that “just creating 4,700 jobs-the number lost at NUMMI itself—would cost $433 million.”
Chocolate, Whiskey and More at the Union Store
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Last week, the UAW published a list of 2010 union-made cars, trucks, vans and other vehicles. It’s also Union Label Week, which we hold annually to highlight how union-made goods are high in quality and help support middle-class communities. These two events reminded me: Making a case for Buy American means we in the union movement need to do our job and show U.S. consumers how and where to buy American, and buy union.
Or at least we can try. I’ve seen an awful lot of brand-new BMWs, Mercedes and Lexus brands of all types driving around here in Washington, D.C., recently. Something tells me my money helped purchase those vehicles—no doubt some of the drivers are beneficiaries of taxpayer-bailed out financial institutions.
Still, not everyone is laughing all the way to making high-end purchases of foreign-made goods with U.S. taxpayer dollars. And for those who still have a conscious that can be appealed to, this list is for you.
