Wal-Mart Exports from China, Exports Ohio Jobs

"Ohio’s manufacturing sector suffered significant losses between January 2001 and July 2004. Nearly one of every six manufacturing jobs—about 17 percent of all manufacturing jobs—was lost. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an estimated net loss of 170,000 manufacturing jobs in Ohio over this period. Cleveland alone lost more than 40,000 manufacturing jobs. More than half of the jobs lost from Ohio’s manufacturing sector were shipped overseas. Not surprisingly, as Ohio lost significant numbers of manufacturing jobs, imports from China surged. Wal-Mart—the world’s largest retailer with more than 140 stores and 45,000 workers in Ohio— sourced at least $18 billion worth of goods from China alone last year.

Wal-Mart continuously squeezes its U.S. suppliers to cut their prices, leaving companies little choice but to close shop in states like Ohio and source goods from countries with lower production costs and lax enforcement of labor laws. Today, 60 percent of Wal-Mart’s merchandise is imported, compared with just 6 percent in 1995. This report tells the stories of four Ohio companies that sell to Wal-Mart. The loss of jobs at the Huffy Corp., Rubbermaid, Mr. Coffee and Thomson factories in Ohio demonstrates how Wal-Mart pressures suppliers to send Ohio jobs overseas. These jobs exported by Wal-Mart suppliers represent just a handful of the hundreds of thousands of good jobs Ohio has lost in the new Wal-Mart economy. Other such Wal-Mart suppliers as Hasbro, Ohio Art, Texas Instruments Inc., Hoover, World Kitchen Inc. and Philips also have closed plants in Ohio."

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