WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) released the below statement following
the news that GE-Savant will be closing its Bucyrus light bulb plant and its
Logan glass plant:
“Once
again, we are witnessing the result of decades of misguided tax and trade
policies that work against Ohio workers and companies that want to manufacture
in the U.S. I have been fighting alongside the men and women of GE-Savant for
years, and I won’t stop fighting for them and their community now. This
announcement should serve as a wake-up call – innovation happens on the shop
room floor, and when 99% of energy efficient light bulbs are made in China, it
is impossible for us to compete. We need to make more things in America – not
cede market share in the products of the future to China.”
Sen.
Brown has long led efforts to keep GE-Savant in Ohio. After the company laid
off workers at its Bucyrus plant, Brown wrote to Robert Madonna, CEO of Savant,
to
press him for answers
and urge the company to work with Bucyrus Mayor Jeff
Reser, the city of Bucyrus, and IUE-CWA Local 84704 to keep jobs and
high-efficiency lighting production in Ohio. Brown also
wrote to Walmart leadership,
asking the company to get involved in local efforts to save high-efficiency
lighting jobs at the GE-Savant plant in Bucyrus.
Last
year, Brown visited with GE-Savant workers and union leaders at the IUE-CWA
Local Union Hall to show solidarity following his
pressure to GE-Savant
leadership to keep the company and jobs in Ohio. During a
Senate Finance Committee
hearing,
Brown continued to push for action and advocate on behalf of workers at the
GE-Savant plant in Bucyrus and a tax code that supports American manufacturing.
During the hearing, Brown questioned expert Ohio witnesses on steps that can be
taken to
halt plant closures and
manufacturing layoffs like those in Bucyrus.
Brown
has
unveiled his framework to overhaul
international taxation, which would end incentives to offshore jobs, invest in
America, and ensure mega-corporations pay their fair share.
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