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October 13, 2004

Leading economists in the current administration have steadily claimed that job losses in U.S. manufacturing are caused primarily by improvements in productivity, not by unfair trade policies. This is the view of the presidents chief economic advisor, N. Gregory Mankiw, who stirred up a hornets nest in February when he said that "outsourcing" is good for the U.S. economy because "it makes more sense to import [cheaper goods] than make or provide [them] domestically."

A report by the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council (IUC), released on September 22, rejects these claims.

The IUCs Ohio Job Export Report was based upon a study of companies that issued WARN notices between 2001 and 2004. WARN is a federal requirement for employers of 50 or more workers who reduce employees.

The report found:

• Over 38,000 Ohioans lost manufacturing jobs after employers filed WARN notices.

• More than half 20,124 of the jobs cut were trade related, and the bulk of those fell victim to import competition.

• Forty percent of those trade-related jobs were lost when manufacturers moved their operations out of the U.S.

• 35 percent of the firms issued WARN notices as a result of trade related issues

• Import competition was identified, as a primary cause for 26 firms while the shift of production to offshore locations was the primary cause for 35 others.

The Ohio report will be followed by others in the presidential battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington.

Job Tracker is a Hit

The Job Tracker (http://www.workingamerica.org), a joint project of the IUC and Working America is contributing to the development of the state reports. Since September 16, the online Web site has had 107,000 visitors, 275,000 searches and solicited 11,000 faxes to President Bush. Working America has recruited 4,000 members. There have been over 200 stories published in the press, based upon the Job Tracker findings.

U.S. China Trade Commission Visits Akron

One day after the release of the Ohio Job Export Report, members of the U.S.-China trade commission came to Akron, Ohio to hold a hearing on how current trade relations with China have affected U.S. workers and companies.

The commissioners heard nine hours of testimony that centered on Chinas undervalued currency, low wages and government subsidies. Among those addressing the commission was the personnel director of Ferriot Inc., a producer of manufacturing molds, which cut 122 jobs in January. He told the commissioners that Ferriots auditor told the companys top brass that even if American workers agreed to work for free, they still could not compete with China.

Bill Burga, the AFL-CIOs Ohio president, addressed the loss of 240,000 Ohio jobs since 2001. He stressed the need for labor to be represented in future trade agreement negotiations.

The U.S.-China Trade Commission has already made recommendations to the Bush administration calling for:

• an investigation into Chinese subsidies and their demand that other nations transfer technology to China as a condition for investment
   
• ending tax breaks that encourage employers to invest in overseas operations
   
• enhanced unemployment insurance for workers affected by outsourcing of production to China.
   
• closing loopholes in trade agreements that allow imports from China to violate U.S. tariffs and other protections.

Unions, Manufacturer Win China Trade Dispute

U.S. Majority Disapproves of Government's Trade Approach

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