UMass/Cornell Report: Building a Sustainable Future for General Electric in Schenectady, New York & Lynn, Massachusetts
The UMass Boston Labor Resource Center and Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations recently published an independent report, Building a Sustainable Future for General Electric in Schenectady, New York & Lynn, Massachusetts, investigating the impact and trajectory of General Electric’s practices in the United States.
The report’s lead authors, Nick Juravich (UMass Boston) and Art Wheaton (Cornell), find that while GE has received over $2.2 billion in government subsidies over the last 20 years that have fueled the company’s growth, the corporation has continuously disinvested in domestic manufacturing in favor of offshoring their production to Europe and Asia, slashing GE’s U.S. workforce from 133,000 in 2009 to just 70,000 as of 2019 as a result.
Beyond the impacts of a declining domestic workforce, Wheaton and Juravich point to the national security risks posed by vulnerability on global supply chains, as well as GE’s potential to be a leader in renewable energy production in the United States.
While GE continues to profit, towns across the U.S. like Lynn, MA and Schenectady, NY are left to deal with the social and economic impacts of the corporation’s practices. They don’t have to: research shows that the location and skilled workforce of GE plants in Lynn and Schenectady present prime opportunities for GE’s growth.
#BringitHomeGE calling to build a better future by bringing good union jobs to the communities that made GE a success.
To view the executive summary of the report, click here.