New Campaign, Should Be Made in America, Demands Accountability on U.S. Infrastructure Spending

California’s Made-in-China Bay Bridge Symbol of Failure

Billboards Will Help Drive Changes to Reinvest Tax Dollars in American Workers and Manufacturing

Contact: Catherine Houston, 510-457-5175, chouston@usw.org
              Gary Hubbard, 202-256-8125, ghubbard@usw.org;
               
Emeryville, CA  (Mar. 26) – A national Should Be Made in America campaign by the non-profit, non-partisan Alliance for America Manufacturing (AAM) kicks off today at the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, a massive construction project that was outsourced to China at the cost of thousands of American manufacturing jobs.

The Should Be Made in America campaign will feature outdoor and digital advertising as well as online activism to urge the use of American-made components for infrastructure projects financed with U.S. tax dollars.  The campaign launches with two large billboards stationed near the Bay Bridge that feature the flag of the People’s Republic of China inscribed with:

“The Bay Bridge/100% Foreign Steel. ShouldBeMadeInAmerica.com.”

Leo W. Gerard, USW International President in Pittsburgh, PA, said: “Many Californians and people all across the country are unaware that the new $7.2 billion bridge still under construction with a 2.2 mile East Span and a 525 foot-tall steel tower was made in China. The consequences for American workers and California taxpayers is common sense when you consider our unemployment is too high and a major infrastructure project cuts out American steel and manufactured goods.”

He said, “The dollars and jobs have gone to benefit Beijing and not California.”

Speaking at the announcement of the billboard placements event was Bob LaVenture, Director for USW District 12 representing California manufacturing workers in steel, concrete, cable products and other infrastructure materials. “The foreign steel was produced and fabricated in giant steel modules that made a 22-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to be welded in place to form the most expensive project in California history.

“The steel manufacturing could have been done here to benefit American workers, but Caltrans and the state’s political leadership failed in their economic vision.”

According to Scott Paul, AAM’s Executive Director: “Our campaign is designed to spark changes in federal, state, and local procurement policies. We are engaging the American public with real and practical ideas about how taxpayer money should be spent on rebuilding our nation. The problems with the Bay Bridge project could have been avoided if California officials had made it in America. Instead, the project is costing American jobs, undermining California’s environmental goals, and facing numerous delays.”

The Bay Bridge project was awarded to a state-owned Chinese firm by California officials, allegedly to save taxpayer money.  AAM, along with groups like the National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA), have made clear that U.S. manufacturers and their workers stood ready to build the bridge. Although the federal government has Buy America preferences for American-made materials, the state of California avoided these requirements by financing the project with state funds.

It’s time for our politicians to believe in American workers, said Paul.  “No more Bay Bridge fiascos.” 

Paul explains that the U.S. needs to repair trillions of dollars in crumbling infrastructure over the next decade, including nearly $500 billion worth in California alone.  The Should Be Made in America campaign will argue that the most effective boost to the U.S. economy would be to ensure that U.S. firms are given the work whenever permissible under existing trade obligations.

Momentum is already building for the Should Be Made in America campaign, and legislation to enhance Buy America preferences at both the federal and state levels is garnering broad support. 

Late last year, U.S. Representative Nick Rahall (D-WV) introduced the Invest in American Jobs Act of 2011 (H.R.3533) to strengthen Buy America requirements for transportation and infrastructure projects.  The bipartisan bill currently has 41 co-sponsors, including six from California (with three Members representing the Bay Area: George Miller, John Garamendi, and Pete Stark).  And last week, the U.S. Senate unanimously adopted an amendment to improve the effectiveness of existing Buy America preferences for transportation projects while also closing loopholes.

Twenty U.S. states are currently considering, or have recently passed, legislation to provide preferences for American steel and manufactured goods in state-level procurement. California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation last year to permit local transit agencies to require 100 percent domestic content in purchases of transit equipment. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s (D-NY) administration has asked construction firms bidding on the new Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River to adhere to Buy America requirements.

LaVenture said the AAM and the USW are supporting a California legislative bill introduced by Assembly member Luis A. Alejo (D-Salinas) known as AB 1543 “Made in the USA for Public Contracts.” Specifically this bill would require the state and all local government entities to purchase or lease manufactured tangible personal property, or materials or structural components to be made in the U.S.

Paul added, “Any of our leaders willing to outsource jobs to China could find one of our billboards next to their shiny new project. We hope there isn’t a great demand for our billboards, but we are prepared to put them up wherever necessary.”

To learn more about Buy America preferences and U.S. manufacturing, visit www.americanmanufacturing.org/, or the new campaign site:  www.shouldbemadeinamerica.com/.

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