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Every time we think there may be good news in the number of North American manufacturing jobs, reality jumps up and bites us again.

"Downsizing" is back, despite the fact that 68 percent of the companies that reduced their work forces in the 1990s didn't achieve profit growth for the next five years. Downsizing depressed morale and contributed to reduced productivity. Apparently, this is a lesson that Lucent - like other companies that have recently closed shops and shifted work overseas - has to learn all over again. U.S. employment figures for the most recent monthly survey (March) show a loss of 250,000 manufacturing jobs in the first quarter of 2001. Today, only 16 percent of Americans make a living in manufacturing compared to almost 30 percent in 1975.

In true IBEW tradition, we are fighting back in the most realistic, practical way we know - working hard to make sure that our members in manufacturing have the skills to survive these troubling times.

As low-skill jobs head steadily to Mexico, Southeast Asia and elsewhere, the jobs that stayed are for the more highly skilled. In fact, our manufacturing department says IBEW employers could put 5,000 process analysts to work right away. That job shift makes it obvious that the future is in training. We have to acknowledge that it is not likely that a worker will again dedicate his or her life to one employer. Therefore, they must acquire skills that are portable. Even those whose plants have closed can land on their feet if they have the basic knowledge needed by so many employers in today's industries. We recognize that the toll taken on families and communities when layoffs occur is still devastating. Jobs of equal worth may not be available in the same town or even the same metropolitan area. But skill development gives our members a fighting chance to get a new job and stay gainfully employed.

Our 750 agreements with approximately 650 employers in manufacturing constitute a strong base from which to negotiate training and education programs for our members. Such programs have to become a non-negotiable demand at the bargaining table. To do less is to fail our members at a pivotal time in the North American economy.

New manufacturing skill standards go into effect around the middle of this year. The Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) now has pilot programs to unveil a standard that was three years in development, with the IBEW playing an integral role. We intend to make maximum use of the new standard.

And in another key development featured on the cover of this issue, the Enhanced Training Opportunities Program (ETOP) is no longer limited to one employer. It is now available to all of our locals in manufacturing, who can now bargain with their employers to participate in the program. I am pleased that four of our locals representing workers at Thomson Consumer Electronics (TCE) have already taken advantage of this new opportunity for their some 3,000 members. This world-class training program makes it unnecessary for employers like TCE to reinvent the wheel.

We look at training as essential to fulfilling our goal of serving all IBEW members all the time. But to the individual, it can be even more. In addition to a chance to increase occupational skills and knowledge of emerging technologies, ETOP offers training on communication skills and a new chance for professional and personal growth.

Ed Hill,
International President