Tweet from Jack Welch

[Lovebears65]

Tweet from Jack Welch, former CEO and Chairman of GE on today's bogus job numbers. "Jack Welch @jack_welch Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can't debate so change numbers.

 

[Bfgrn]

Tweet from Jack Welch, former CEO and Chairman of GE on today's bogus job numbers. "Jack Welch @jack_welch Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can't debate so change numbers.

**** Jack Welsh, the biggest piece of anti America trash in this country.

Published on Wednesday, May 17, 2000
GE: No Company's Record Better Illustrates The Glories Of Corporate Globalization For The Well-Off, And The Misery For The Many

There is probably no more "American" corporation than General Electric -- and no company with more of an anational world outlook than GE.

And no company's record better illustrates the glories of corporate globalization for the well-off, and the misery for the many.

Founded by the American icon Thomas Edison, GE is now headed by Jack Welch, who has said, "Ideally you'd have every plant you own on a barge" -- ready to move if any national government tried to impose restraints on the factories' operations, or if workers demanded better wages and working conditions.

While Welch's 20-year reign has been a golden era for shareholders -- the company's stock value has risen three time more than the Dow average, leading Forbes magazine to name Welch the "Most Admired CEO of the Century" -- it has been a disaster for employees.

GE has slashed its U.S. workforce by almost half since 1986. The numbers are down "because of speed up, downsizing, outsourcing, plant closings, you name it," says Chris Townsend, political director of the United Electrical (UE) workers.

GE has globalized its operations by shifting production to low-wage countries. (And even in these countries, the jobs remain precarious: GE recently shuttered a factory in Turkey to move it to lower-wage Hungary -- and it has threatened to close a factory in Hungary and move it to India. Union officials in Malaysia say they fear GE "putting our plant on a barge and moving to Vietnam," according to InterPress Service.)

Now GE appears no longer satisfied to close its own plants -- it wants to shut down those of suppliers, too. In a startling memo obtained by Business Week, GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) -- a hugely profitable division -- told suppliers that they would have to move to Mexico if they hoped to continue their relationship with GE. GEAE has held what it calls "supplier migration" conferences in Cincinnati, near its headquarters, and in Monterrey, where an aerospace industrial park is being built.

An internal report on a GEAE meeting with its suppliers says, "GE set the tone early and succinctly: 'Migrate or be out of business; not a matter of if, just when. This is not a seminar to provide you information. We expect you to move and move quickly."

GE appears relatively free to trumpet its American heritage while betraying the U.S. workers who built the company ... and turning its back on its new workers outside of the United States if still greater profits are to be found elsewhere.

more

 

[Jackson]

You are talking about Obama's illustrious former Job Council Chairman there, you know!

 

[Clementine]

You are talking about Obama's illustrious former Job Council Chairman there, you know!

Yes, and he would know better than anyone how they do things.

 

[Bfgrn]

You are talking about Obama's illustrious former Job Council Chairman there, you know!

No I'm not.

Obama's jobs council, headed by General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, has actually done what it was supposed to do. It has issued a couple of reports with about 90 recommendations, in total, for ways to boost hiring and energize the economy. These are mostly sensible ideas, including many that businesses have favored for a long time, such as streamlining regulation, improving education, and reforming the corporate tax code.

A few of these ideas have even been implemented. The JOBS Act passed earlier this year contained measures to aid small, fast-growing companies, just as the jobs council recommended. Obama used an executive order to fulfill another council recommendation, speeding up the process for foreigners requesting a visa for travel to the United States. That has apparently worked, with visa approvals far higher than they were last year, and more foreigners visiting America.

But many of the council's recommendations require the kind of congressional action that's not likely in the current climate of hostility, especially in an election year. One good example: allowing more highly skilled immigrants to remain in the United States, which many economists consider a no-brainer. Yet Congress has dithered on the necessary approvals, which is a shameful abdication of responsibility.

Other big priorities, such as education and tax reform, will require years of work and deep compromise. As with many other challenges affecting the U.S. economy, the problem isn't figuring out what needs to be done. It's doing it. Obama could even credibly respond to critics of his moribund jobs council by saying that the time for meetings is over. There's a plan. It makes sense. Holding more meetings isn't the way to generate action.