Cooper Tire to Keep Plant Open in Findlay, Close Plant in Georgia

December 17, 2008

CLEVELAND, OH – In response to today’s announcement by Cooper Tire and Rubber to keep 1,100 jobs in Findlay, Ohio, U.S. Senator Brown (D-OH) released the following statement:

“I commend Cooper Tire for their decision to keep jobs in Ohio. Cooper Tire has been a part of the Findlay community for more than 90 years. I applaud the outstanding collaborative efforts of the United Steelworkers Local 207L, Greater Findlay Inc., the Ohio Department of Development, and the City of Findlay, and Hancock County. The community united to save jobs and to help keep Cooper Tire competitive. This is a proud day for Ohio and for middle class families. The productivity of Cooper Tire Workers is a big reason why this plant is staying open. I look forward to continuing to work with them and with the company as we rebuild Ohio.”

Brown, who has been working with union leaders, company management, state officials, and local stakeholders since a network capacity study was announced in October, also expressed concern for Cooper Tire Workers in Albany, Georgia, where Cooper Tire was forced to close a plant.

“Ohio has lost more than 200,000 manufacturing jobs in the last eight years,” Brown said. “I am extremely empathetic to the plight of Georgia families with this plant closing. This news underscores why we must have a new direction for our trade policies so that U.S. companies can stay globally competitive and keep jobs here at home.”

Medina County Unemployment Rate Lower Than State Average

According to this report from the Ohio News Network, Medina County's unemployment rate is at 5.6%. This is lower than all but one of the contiguous counties to Medina County. The one contiguous county with a slightly lower unemployment rate is Wayne County, which has an umemployment rate of 5.4%. Medina County's rate is lower than Ohio's average of 6.4%, and again of the contiguous counties, two have a higher unemployment rate than the state average and those are Cuyahoga and Lorain.

Ohio Republican Hypocrisy

If you click on the link in this entry's title you can read about how the GOP House Speaker Husted and the incoming Ohio GOP Chair Dewine want to cut 22 million out of Gov. Strickland's proposed budget for economic development but also want to earmark 9 million additional dollars for economic development for the Dayton area, where, gee, both of them come from.

As Gov. Strickland points out, it doesn't make a a lot of sense to be cutting funds for economic development in a state that is bleeding jobs. It is also inconsistent to cut funds out of the state budget for economic development for the whole state but then add funds for economic development for one area of the state.

As we have commented before, former GOP Governor Jim Rhodes used to talk about "jobs and progress" in the 1960s. This current group of GOP leaders want to talk about "guns and gays", except, of course, if the jobs are in their areas. Just another example of GOP hypocrisy.

Akron Beacon Journal Article on Retail Employees' Pay

The front page of the Akron Beacon Journal's Business section had a story today, (2.25.2007), about retail jobs in Ohio. It points out that retail jobs are paying less and that pay for retail employees is not keeping up with other sectors of the economy. In Medina County, for example, retail jobs have increased but retail pay has declined by 10% according to the article. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is quoted as attributing at least some of the decline in pay for retail employees to that sector's lack of organized workers. Other factors cited in the article include technology, which is allowing retail establishments to eliminate jobs by use of such mechanisms as self-checkout stations.

What is interesting about this article is that one of the arguments made by supporters of free trade treaties such as NAFTA is that while manufacturing jobs may be lost, service sector jobs will step in and fill the void. Well, as this article shows, the pay for such jobs is much less than the pay for the lost jobs. This affects all of us, not just the workers involved. If lower paying jobs replace higher paying jobs, then workers won't have as much money to spend on things like entertainment, cars, groceries, dining out, and recreation. It means that professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and dentists may find that their clients don't have as much to spend of their services. It will affect construction jobs because people who don't have as much money can't spend as much on housing. It will affect governments, especially governmental bodies like school boards, who have to go back to voters on a regular basis for approval of tax levies. In short, when one section of the economy suffers, all of the economy may suffer.

Columbus Dispatch Reports 2006 Manufacturing Job Losses

The Columbus Reported that 2006 tied 2003 for record number of job losses in Ohio's manufacturing sector. Ohio has now lost over 200,000 manufacturing jobs. It's percentage of people employed in manufacturing has gone from 17% of the work force down to 14%. A big reason is competition from overseas companies. This state is seeing the loss of good paying jobs.

The media likes to report on unemployment figures. Unemployment figures, though, are only the tip of the analysis. If you are replacing manufacturing jobs with service industry jobs and if such jobs don't pay as much, then consumers have less money to spend. Consumers spending less will eventually result in fewer jobs in the service sector. It means consumers having less money to spend on doctors, lawyers, insurance, dentists, and other professions who think their education will protect them from the effects of Ohio losing manufacturing jobs.