Industrial unions call for boost in manufacturing

Minnesota industrial unions gathered for a summit on manufacturing, where they called for action to encourage the growth of this sector in Minnesota.

The summit took place Friday and Saturday at the Communications Workers of America Local 7200 hall in Minneapolis. It drew participants from several unions, including the Bakery & Confectionery Workers, Boilermakers, Communications Workers, Food & Commercial Workers, Machinists and Steelworkers.

“Manufacturing has the greatest pull on the economy of any sector,” noted Brad Markell, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council in Washington, D.C. In 2013, some 12 million Americans were employed directly in manufacturing and another 17 million in related jobs, accounting for 21 percent of all employment, he said.

Workers in manufacturing earn from $2 to $5 an hour more, on average, than workers in other sectors, he said. And many of their workplaces are represented by unions.

Yet many of these important industries are being shut down or moved overseas to take advantage of cheaper labor. Current tax and trade policies encourage this flight, participants in the summit noted.

To revitalize the manufacturing sector, the industrial unions called for:

• Changes in U.S. trade policy, including rejection of proposed free trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership;
• An end to tax policies that reward companies for moving jobs overseas;
• Greater investment in infrastructure; and
• More education, including the creation of industrial apprenticeships.

The summit included a presentation by Wisconsin workers who have instituted apprenticeship programs for industrial manufacturing technicians. Jeff Smith, president of United Steelworkers Local 3740 at Navistar International, and Joe Nicosia, manufacturing industry coordinator for WRTP/BIG STEP, described how the apprenticeships have filled a need for skilled workers and provided a career path for many workers.

The apprenticeships are now being offered in Minnesota through a partnership between the Minnesota AFL-CIO and WRTP/BIG STEP. For more information, e-mail Jerome Balsimo.

The summit also featured a pep talk from Congressman Keith Ellison, DFL-5th Dist.

“The leading voice on manufacturing must be a worker voice,” Ellison told participants. “We can set up policies that can make it [manufacturing] thrive. But we’re the ones who have to make the demands.”