General Electric's Global Assault
There is probably no more "American" corporation than General Electric -- and no company with more of a non-national world outlook. What's more, no company's record better illustrates the glories of corporate globalization for the well-off, and the misery it brings to the many.
Founded by 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." Meaning, 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 Jones 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 US workforce by almost half since 1986. That's "because of speed up, downsizing, outsourcing, plant closings, you name it," says Chris Townsend, political director of the United Electrical Workers.
GE has, of course, 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.)
Now GE appears no longer satisfied to move its own plants -- it wants its suppliers to follow suit. 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 "supplie ...