August 7, 2019 at 4:02 p.m.
Reader hopes for best in trade deal
Letters to the Editor
To the editor:
Thirty years ago, employees at Decatur, Indiana, GE Motors were some of the workers to experience the sucking sound of jobs leaving the country. This happened before NAFTA was passed.
This October, the workers of the UE union will now meet at the Knights of Columbus hall in Decatur as they have for 29 years. The company offered jobs in the Fort Wayne GE Motors plant because the mayor and company offered jobs at the Taylor Street plant because the building was being used by GE Aircraft Controls. So the lease helped on the expenses, but that didn’t help keep the jobs. You retrained your seniority with GE but you were the same as an employee hired in with no seniority day one and you were a member of the IUE union. One went to work at the GE plant in Erie Pennsylvania, in which his seniority went with him.
We were told out of the blue that our plant was closing and had no idea when they announced in October 1987. Earlier we had an open house for family members.
People were hired in to replace workers that were going to the Fort Wayne GE Motors. New hires were paid at 70 percent of the wages. This lowered the price of the motor by $10.
People I worked with for years had different reactions that surprised me. Some were never sure about being able to retire from a new job. Some people were able to use training. Some chose not to go to Fort Wayne.
In May, 1989, I chose to go to GE Aircraft Controls. In May 1996 it became Lockheed Martin. In 2000, it was BAE Systems.
As for myself, I would not want to go back to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). As for the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), if you hear a sucking sound of jobs leaving the country, it will be too late to point fingers. I hope this is a very good deal for the country and puts trade on a fair market for jobs and goods.
When is the last time you heard the phrase “Look for the union label?”
John C. Bye Jr.
Portland
P.S. — Maybe the government should put a 10-percent tax on income, both personal and business, that is sent out of the United States. I am sure Congress would consider this a windfall to spend on projects (roads and bridges). These projects are something that needs to be done, but how are we willing to pay for them? There isn’t a free lunch. You have to have some skin in the game. We might find out some information about the income leaving the United States that could be very useful.
Thirty years ago, employees at Decatur, Indiana, GE Motors were some of the workers to experience the sucking sound of jobs leaving the country. This happened before NAFTA was passed.
This October, the workers of the UE union will now meet at the Knights of Columbus hall in Decatur as they have for 29 years. The company offered jobs in the Fort Wayne GE Motors plant because the mayor and company offered jobs at the Taylor Street plant because the building was being used by GE Aircraft Controls. So the lease helped on the expenses, but that didn’t help keep the jobs. You retrained your seniority with GE but you were the same as an employee hired in with no seniority day one and you were a member of the IUE union. One went to work at the GE plant in Erie Pennsylvania, in which his seniority went with him.
We were told out of the blue that our plant was closing and had no idea when they announced in October 1987. Earlier we had an open house for family members.
People were hired in to replace workers that were going to the Fort Wayne GE Motors. New hires were paid at 70 percent of the wages. This lowered the price of the motor by $10.
People I worked with for years had different reactions that surprised me. Some were never sure about being able to retire from a new job. Some people were able to use training. Some chose not to go to Fort Wayne.
In May, 1989, I chose to go to GE Aircraft Controls. In May 1996 it became Lockheed Martin. In 2000, it was BAE Systems.
As for myself, I would not want to go back to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). As for the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), if you hear a sucking sound of jobs leaving the country, it will be too late to point fingers. I hope this is a very good deal for the country and puts trade on a fair market for jobs and goods.
When is the last time you heard the phrase “Look for the union label?”
John C. Bye Jr.
Portland
P.S. — Maybe the government should put a 10-percent tax on income, both personal and business, that is sent out of the United States. I am sure Congress would consider this a windfall to spend on projects (roads and bridges). These projects are something that needs to be done, but how are we willing to pay for them? There isn’t a free lunch. You have to have some skin in the game. We might find out some information about the income leaving the United States that could be very useful.
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