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Wal-Mart and Best Buy are cutthroat rivals in the electronics- marketing ring. But on April 15, 2004, these giants formed a tag team to take on the IBEW and the International Union of Electronic Workers (IUE-CWA) in a tough match before the International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington, D.C. Cheering on the retailers were lawyers for 10 Chinese manufacturing firms whose TVs are jamming the shelves of big-box stores across the nation.

The ITC hearing was the final phase of an investigation into whether Chinese manufacturers were, in fact, dumping TVsselling them for less than the cost of production on the U.S. market. A year ago, the ITC made a preliminary decision that dumping from China and Malaysia has injured the U.S. industry. The IBEW, the IUE-CWA and Five Rivers Electronic Innovations, a U.S.-based TV assembler in Greenville, Tennessee, brought the initial case before the ITC. The parties sought an extra import duty on televisions from China and Malaysia to bring prices closer to their normal value. IBEW International Representative Troy Johnson testified at the preliminary hearing about the shutdown of IBEW-represented Sharp plant in Memphis, Tennessee, and the uncertainty facing IBEW members at Toshiba in Lebanon, Tennessee, in the face of the Chinese import surge.

On April 13, 2004, the U.S. Department of Commerce ruled that imports from Malaysia were not at a level high enough to trigger duties. The Commerce Department, however, ruled in favor of anti-dumping duties of up to 78 percent on more than $276 million of 21-inch screen and larger color televisions from China. The duties will not go into effect unless the ITC finds in favor of the unions and Five Rivers. The decision was rendered on May 14, 2004, and will be reported in a future issue of the Journal.

At the April 15 hearing, lawyers for the unions and Five Rivers argued that Chinese imports had skyrocketed 3,000 percent while U.S. TV production had dropped from 60 percent of capacity to 43 percent. Johnson testified about the recent shutdown of IBEW-represented Thomson tube-making and glass plants in Indiana and Ohio, affecting nearly 1,400 workers. (See "IBEW Members at Thomson Face Shutdown of TV Tube and Glass Plants," IBEW Journal, May 2004, p. 10 or on www.ibew.org). He asked the commissioners to consider the plight faced by Thomson workers such as Arzella and David Huffman, a couple with over 60 years of combined service at the Marion, Indiana plant.

"They are too young to retire and face major obstacles in starting new careers, he said. They are victims of unfair trade." Some of Thomsons tube making will be transferred to plants in Mexico, but the companys ultimate profit center is in China. In July, Thomson will conclude a merger agreement with TCL Industries, one of the Chinese firms targeted by the anti-dumping petition. TCL, Chinas second largest TV manufacturer, arrogantly responded to the Commerce ruling in a statement to The Standard, a Chinese business newspaper. The company said that it would not be affected by the TV ruling because it can shift production to countries such as Vietnam to circumvent the tariffs.

Arzella Huffman, the former Thomson worker, says: "My husband and I are lucky that we had 30 years of seniority when the plant shut down. We will be entitled to health care that the IBEW won in contract negotiations. More junior workers still have children in college. They are facing a heavier financial and emotional toll. I dont have a problem with the global economy. I have a problem when the government doesnt protect us against illegal activity by corporations."

Joining Johnson in testimony was Mike Bindas, International President of the IUE-CWA, A.J. Davis, Vice President of IUE-CWA Local 1106 at Sanyo in Forrest City, Arkansas, and Tom Hopson, President and CEO of Five Rivers.

Bindas recalled the difficult negotiations that his union concluded with Five Rivers to enhance the firms competitive position, making it the top employer in eastern Tennessee. At the beginning of 2001, Five Rivers had 700 workers making TVs and 1,300 making components. Today, there are 550 workers left.

"I know how much the components of a TV cost," Hopson said. "When I look at the prices of the containers of TVs from China that are sitting on the parking lot waiting for Wal-Marts Thanksgiving blitz, I know that these TVs are being sold below the cost of production."

"Not so," said the lawyers for the big retailers and the Chinese manufacturers, who had unsuccessfully requested that the hearing be held behind closed doors. "There must be another reason that plants are shutting down; maybe its got to do with new technology or competition from Mexico under NAFTA." They argued that the Chinese imports had not affected U.S. producers because they are sold in the lowest tier of prices and quality where the U.S. firms do not compete. They capped their case by questioning whether the unions at Toshiba and Sanyo had any "standing" to bring a case before the ITC without the participation of those employers. The unions lawyers have submitted post-hearing briefs in response to the companies arguments.

Johnson says: "We cannot put 100 percent of the blame for increases in imports from China on the retailers. The American buyer has demanded lower and lower prices at the cash register. We as labor organizations have not done a good enough job over the past two decades in providing our public with the facts about where those products are made and the conditions of the workers who produce them. The less our workers make in income, as manufacturing jobs are lost, the more they turn to Wal-Mart to provide them with their needs. Wal-Mart purchases the majority of its inventory from low-wage countries like China. We must elect individuals to all levels of government who arent afraid to look out for the needs of workers, not just companies."

There is a lot on the line in the ITCs ruling, especially for TV workers and their families tucked away in rural communities where there is a limited industrial base. Davis, the IUE local vice president from Sanyos plant in Arkansas that produces for Wal-Mart says: "The average seniority in my plant is 37 years. We had 624 workers in 2002. We now have 391. This is the Mississippi Delta. There are no jobs here. Its working at Sanyo or welfare."

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