LISTEN: Outspoken Critic of Offshoring to Move Ohio Mfg Operations to China

Last month, Conn-Selmer – a manufacturer that’s said to be the last to produce brass musical instruments in the United States – announced that it would be closing its plant in Eastlake, Ohio.

And while it’s not exactly an unfamiliar story, this situation has a bit of an interesting twist: the production is reportedly going to a Conn-Selmer plant in China, and the company’s owner, John Paulson, has been an outspoken critic of offshoring.

On the line are 150 union jobs and Conn-Selmer workers, members of UAW Local 2359, are predicted to lose their positions at the end of June. According to the union, they’d planned to bargain a new contract last month when, instead, they were told the plant would close. Leaders called it “a slap in the face.”

A recent report by the BBC cited union workers who claimed Conn-Selmer has had a plan in the works for a while. They said the company opened a new facility in China last year and the Ohio plant’s workload gradually began to shift overseas – even though workers were allegedly told that the China plant would not have an impact on the U.S. factory’s workload.

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