Keep it Made in America: Evansville, Indiana
Posted by SCapozzola on March 1st, 2010
AAM Indiana Field Coordinator Rachel Bennett-Steury forwarded the following account from Evansville, Indiana of a “Keep It Made in America,” as reported by United Steelworkers retiree Dave Kobiela. The event was held to recognize layoffs at a Whirlpool plant in Evansville. The company has stated that it will move operations to Mexico.
Dave wrote:
We headed out for Evansville about 8:30 am, almost a 6 hr. drive. When we arrived at Whirlpool, the police were just beginning to set up barricades, and forming a line across the office lawn. Four lanes of traffic in front of the plant, and they blocked off the nearest lane to give us a safety zone along the roadside. Local PD plus lots of ISP, there were no problems with them at all.
Local news had reported possibly 1500 to attend, but the opinion page said “no way will there be anything close to 1500 people showing up…” Well they were right. The police estimate was 5500! Virtually every Union and Trade was in attendance, many with signs, banners and American flags. A Whirlpool refrigerator was delivered and was taken through the police line to the main office doors, but we were not invited in. 70,000 petitions were in the frig, along with 50,000 that had been faxed or emailed the previous day.
The Company officials on the roof who were videotaping us kind of reminded me of my visit to Korea and the DMZ, (but the North Koreans had machine guns pointed as well as cameras!) Demonstrators came from Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, as well as all over Indiana. Coverage from the media appeared quite extensive, and support from passersby, especially semis who slowed to about 10 mph and laid on the air horn, was very positive.
The press conference was at IUE-CWA local 808, and included the Evansville mayor as well as city council and county officials. Also present were NAACP, CLC, and State representatives, as well as a small business owner and a 19-yr. employee, who shared personal stories. A highlight of course were the comments from President Trumka, who assured Whirlpool and everyone else that ” this fight has just begun…”. He also reported that the AFL-CIO had issued a national appeal, and as he spoke, Whirlpool HQ was receiving one phone call every 19 seconds, average length 2:38!
The weather got bad around Anderson coming home, but it was beautiful blue skies and about 45 deg. in Evansville, with a nice breeze to keep all those flags flying proudly. Of course no one knows what effect this will have on Whirlpools’s decision, but notice has definitely been served to them and anyone else who plans to take the money and run.
By the way, the Evansville plant was top rated for quality, safety and efficiency. Jobs in Mexico to pay $3.85/hr, with no benefits! Please Buy American.
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March 1st, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Rachel, You need to start your own newspaper or news coverage. You are the greatest. I am praying people start to realize we can’t just have one rally and move on. We need to keep this movement moving, and keep people informed. (We need to tell the government that they should tax companies that are leaving this country and fine them if they use stimulus or tax abatement money to move.)
Thanks for all that you do. V.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:13 am
Great story Dave! We all need to be aware of the origin of our appliances and this is a good example why.
March 5th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Dave,
Way to go! I wish I could have made it that day, it looks like it was a well planned, well needed event.
My house is full of Whirlpool appliances! All of which are made here…for now. I will say this, although I have not had any issues with their product, if they move to Mexico, I will not buy another one!
Americans, as a whole, turned their back years ago when most of the garment industry moved out of the U.S. They turned their back when toys moved out of the U.S. They continued to turn their backs when tools and small electronics moved out. It has got to stop, and it has got to stop NOW! If American’s aren’t working, the concept of America does not work. We see this everyday.
Our Capitalist society is run on taxes. When corporations move overseas, we lose that tax revenue. When the workers are forced to take jobs that pay less wages, that tax revenue is lost. Less wages means less buying power. Less taxes mean less social structure.
And it is that loss of social structure that is most important. We see on the news on an almost daily basis that certain schools have to either cut teaching staff, or close the school entirely. As our “leaders” tell us that our education as Americans, is falling behind the rest of the world, they forget that if we had more good paying jobs, our taxes would help fund the programs that our children need. In the past, when there were shortfalls in some school districts, they could hold fundraisers, or rely on the community to help out in some way or another. Now, so many communities are harmed by the loss of jobs and taxes that fundraisers aren’t profitable, and there isn’t enough tax base to help out.
We, as Americans, need to stand up. If you are in the market for something, do a little research. If it is made here, please buy it. It may cost a little more, but it is worth it. The quality is better, the workers are treated better, and the community where it is made will be better off. And so will we.
-John