Corporations Seeking U.S. Tax Breaks Refuse to Reveal Critical U.S. Jobs Data
Major corporations are lobbying heavily for a U.S. tax holiday on their foreign profits. These huge multi-nationals like IBM and Pfizer claim that if they are allowed to repatriate their overseas profits the tax cut—that some say would be as much as $80 billion—will be used to create jobs right here in the United States. Pass the salt shaker.
The Washington Post reports today that most these multinational giants refuse to publicly release information breaking down the exact numbers of U.S. workers versus the number of workers in their overseas operations. Between 2000 and 2009 the companies cut 2.9 million U.S. jobs and created 2.4 million overseas.
Ron Hira, an associate professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology told the Post:
It’s an important piece of information that the American people should have. Should you listen to the kind of advice these companies have about how to grow the economy when their record and their model indicates they’ve cut jobs…or should we talk to people who actually do create jobs in the United States. Read the rest of this entry »
IBM Global Alliance Formed to Improve Working Conditions, Gain Respect for Workers
Unions representing workers at IBM around the world are coming together to form a new IBM Global Union Alliance to faciliate cooperative efforts to increase union membership in the company and pursue global agreements to improve working conditions of IBM employees worldwide. They also will support workers facing anti-union actions by the company.
The unions formally created the alliance earlier this month at a joint meeting of the UNI Global Union (UNI) International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and the European Metalworkers Federation (EMF).
The Global Alliance also is planning a worldwide day of action June 14, just days before the 100th anniversary of IBM, which the company will celebrate on June 16. IBM unions worldwide will mark the anniversary with actions that promote the important role of unions in protecting workers and demand respect for IBM employees. More details will become available later, alliance officials say.
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.”
Buy America Will Create U.S. Jobs. We Need Lots of Jobs
The Buy America provision in the economic recovery package Congress now is finalizing has some rich and powerful voices against it.
AT&T, Dow Chemical, Cisco Systems, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, the Computer and Communications Industry Association and the Consumer Electronics Association sent a letter last week to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) saying the provision “will harm American workers and companies across the entire U.S. economy, undermine U.S. global engagement, and result in mirror-image trade restrictions abroad that would put at risk huge amounts of American exports.”
Wrong. Such cries of protectionism are red herrings for the corporate search for the lowest-wage labor possible—at the expense of America’s workers and the U.S. economy.
