Manufacturing Crucial for Building New Economy
 |
|
Over the next decade, America is poised to invest $2 trillion in infrastructure, health care and a greener economy, but that money must be invested strategically to build a new economy, not just retool the current model, which is not working.
Speaking this morning at the Building the New Economy conference in Washington, D.C., AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the global economic collapse requires us to think of long-term strategies to rebuild and restructure our economy, with a revitalized manufacturing sector at its core.
The one-day conference, sponsored by the Institute for America’s Future and the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), is bringing together political, business, environmental and union leaders and economists to discuss the fundamental changes needed to create an economy that provides sustainable long-term growth and creates across-the-board prosperity.
We Are All Steelworkers
 |
|
So I took a tour of a steel plant today. There was a lot of hot, molten steel, but also high-tech computerized systems running the show, making sure just enough steel is poured into a mold at just the right temperature and speed, among many other functions.
The tour of the Edgar Thomson Steel Works in North Braddock, Pa., was sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing and the Campaign for America’s Future as part of the Netroots Nation conference here in Pittsburgh.
On the way to the Thomson plant, we passed by the spot on the Monongahela River where, in 1892, striking steelworkers literally did battle with Pinkerton thugs who tried a sneak attack on them from barges in the river. The workers were prepared, and the Pinkertons surrendered. Ultimately, though, Carnegie, the owner of the plant, won the Homestead strike.
Passing by Homestead was a reminder that many people associate steel mills with the hazy history of our nation, but this tour was not about nostalgia. It was about the future—and how steel plants and manufacturing must be an essential part of 21st century America, or our economy will wither.
