News

Posted On: 05/07/2009

Keep It Made in America bus tour to traverse 11 states

PlantServices.com

More than 7.2 million paychecks are dependent on U.S. auto manufacturing, including health care, education, service, retail and other jobs. That's the message workers, community leaders, elected officials, labor leaders, and others will bring to an 11-state, 34-city "Keep it Made in America" bus tour the week of May 11.  Regular tour updates will be posted at www.madeinamericatour.org.
 
Leo W. Gerard, president of United Steelworkers (USW), says, "This jobs crisis goes deeper than auto companies and assembly workers in Detroit. Reducing U.S. auto manufacturing drives down overall employment, from the people who make auto catalogs and shipping boxes to workers making glass for windshields, rubber for tires and other materials."
 
Workers from the bus tour, business leaders, national labor leaders, mayors, federal lawmakers and economists will join ranks again on May 19 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., for a day-long 'teach-in' conference about the effect of the automotive supply chain in American communities. 
 
Bus tour participants will include workers from steel, iron, glass, plastics and rubber, aluminum and auto parts facilities, local auto dealers, community employers, and local community and elected leaders. The tour is sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), the Mayors and Municipalities Automotive Coalition (MMAC) and the United Steelworkers (USW).  
 
USW president Gerard says, "Nationwide, if we cut American auto jobs to support auto imports, the consequences for service sector jobs will be severe. The waitress at the neighborhood diner, the teacher at the community school, accountants, bankers, firefighters and police officers will all likely see their jobs affected. We need to send a message to Congress and the Obama Administration that Americans recognize we must make things here. We don't need more off-shoring. We need jobs — we need to rebuild domestic manufacturing and our auto industry."

May 11-May 14 Bus Tour Routes

For more details on bus tour stops, see  www.americanmanufacturing.org.  A Web site with stories from the tour and conference, www.madeinamericatour.org, will debut on May 11.
 
St. Louis, MO to Arlington, TX (May 11-14): St. Louis, MO, Cape Girardeau, MO, Humboldt, TN, Memphis, TN, Little Rock, AR, Texarkana, AR, Shreveport, LA, Longview, TX, Arlington, TX
 
Indianapolis, IN to Fairfield, AL (May 12-14): Indianapolis, IN, Louisville, KY, Owensboro, KY, Bowling Green, KY, Springfield, TN, Nashville, TN, Spring Hill, TN, Decatur, AL, Fairfield, AL
 
Merrillville, IN to Dayton, OH (May 11-13): Merrillville, IN, South Bend, IN, Logansport, IN, Kokomo, IN, Ft. Wayne, IN, Bowling Green, OH, Van Wert, OH, Dayton, OH
 
Dearborn, MI to Bay City, MI (May 11-12): Dearborn, MI, Hamtramck, MI, Sterling Heights, MI, Pontiac, MI, Wyoming, MI, Lansing, MI, Saginaw, MI, Bay City, MI