Forum Post: Workers being exploited at Cooper Tire in Ohio -
Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 22, 2011, 2:23 a.m. EST by aeturnus
(231)
from Robbinsville, NC
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
It is great that occupiers are protesting the foreclosure crisis through the act of occupying foreclosed homes, but there is an event going on right now in Ohio where they could in fact help bring it straight into the workplace. The above article illustrates the conditions currently going on with Cooper Tire. The idea that a corporation is daring to use scabs at a time when massive protests against corporate power are underway in nearly every state should be seen by anyone with a fair sense of justice as a weakness. A corporation ought to be frightened by the mere thought of using scab power at a time when corporate power is so massively being protested, and yet this company is doing just that with almost no protest outside of its own union. The only thing that ought to stop a protest on behalf of the workers is fears from the union itself, but I suspect that most workers are going to want solidarity from the public on an issue such as this. It would strengthen the resistance against the corporation involved if occupiers went along with the union and protested, got in the way of the scabs making entrance into the building, and demanded the removal of Roy Armes. It is true that I am not from Ohio and no little other than what I read on this, but that ought not stop the idea that this could be a stepping stone for a revolution far more profound than what we are currently seeing with OWS.
To work at Cooper, I wouldn't mind being the first scab picked(geddit??). This is what happens when unions make poor choices. They gave back money, and it bit them in the ass. They don't need protestors, they already have some that are fighting for something real (their jobs) with an enemy they can actually name(unlike OWS). Cooper doesn't really need these people. They could close the plant tomorrow, royally screw these people and open up shop in another state. Corporations really don't care about who does the job, so long as it gets done. I'll still buy their tires if I need them, and so will a lot of others.
Corporations make poor choices. Unions make poor choices. That much is a fact of life. Certainly corporations make bad choices, and so will unions, and vice versa. It's not so much about making poor choices but rather than taking a stance against corporate gluttony. The CEO of Cooper is more satisfied with insisting that there is more tire production outside of the US. The more research one reads about Roy Armes, the more stuff you will read that insists that he is a cold-blooded monster. There is very little that can be found positive about the guy, other than the fact that he attempts to transcend his business into something of a tyranny for personal profit and gain. It's as if people used to say positive things about Cooper, but now have far more negative things to say.
The problem with OWS is that it does not seem to be as organized to actually do something to fight against corporate power. If Cooper does close the plant and threatens to move to another state, then OWS could get in the way. OWS is in most states. Whatever state they go to, there can still be occupiers to fight against their greed. It's as if you raise the minimum wage. If corporations dare to raise the prices because of the such, then OWS ought to go out and protest it. If OWS doesn't go after the source of the power, then I don't know how effective they will be at fighting corporate power. Just getting money out of politics is not going to have a dramatic impact, because that is not the source. The source is at where the means of production are located.
If they bring in the scabs then we can call a boycott.
I doubt boycotts are going to have much of an impact if the price becomes cheaper due to offshore competition. People are naturally going to buy products that have cheaper prices. It's not as if they necessarily want to, but because they may be strapped and can't afford much else. That is how WalMart gets away with savage practices. At that point, there is like a chain reaction of businesses with negative attitudes, because negativity often follows the cheapest and lowest route. If a business doesn't become negative and more tyrannical, it is more likely it will veer off into bankruptcy territory. We need to change tax codes and tariff codes to offset some of this at one point. At another, we need to support sustainable business practices with less attention to sole ownership.