Pollina Statement on Firings at IBM

Pollina Statement on Firings at IBM
 
"The firings at IBM are especially painful because IBM workers are not organized and because my opponent has not helped Vermont prepare for shifts in the global and local economy.
 
An organized workforce would have been better prepared to protect their jobs and negotiate with management. Rumors of the job cuts circulated among workers for weeks, but management denied them until today. Organized workers could at least respond from a position of strength.
 
As usual, the current governor is reacting to crisis rather than preparing for and avoiding problems. Whether its jobs, energy or infrastructure problems this governor does not act, he reacts.
 
While the Governor will send in a rapid response team after the fact, he should have acted before the crisis. He should have helped IBM workers organize and he should now hold IBM accountable for the way in which the firings were handled. I would like to know when the Governor and State Government were first informed of the layoffs.
 
It is clear that Jim does not equal jobs. Private sector job growth has been flat, most of the fastest growing jobs in Vermont are low paying jobs, and the administration has not been willing to put people to work fixing infrastructure.  I have proposed a jobs program to put Vermonters to work fixing bridges and roads, building affordable homes and retrofitting buildings to make them more energy efficient. While it would not replace the IBM jobs it would create good jobs for Vermonters at a time when they are sorely needed.
 
The mass firings at IBM remind us that Vermont workers are being squeezed between a weakening economy and global corporations that care more about their own bottom line than about Vermont.
 
No amount of taxpayer subsidies will guarantee IBM jobs in Vermont. Like other global corporations they react to the global economy. While we appreciate IBM jobs, we live in a changing economy and we need to change along with it. With the American economy growing weaker and cheap labor available in China, companies like IBM will continue to throw Americans out of work to protect their profits.
 
As governor I will invest in local Vermont businesses that aren't going to get up and leave when the economy gets tough."
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