Dodd Introduces New Job Protection Legislation to Conn. Workers
WASHINGTON – Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., asked leaders of 25 grassroots, labor and business organizations Tuesday to support a bill that he said would keep American tax dollars invested in the nation’s workforce.
“Workers in Connecticut and across the nation are first-rate,” Dodd said at a press conference attended by members of the advocacy groups. “It simply doesn’t make sense to ship their jobs and opportunities half way around the world to save a buck.
“This legislation is a step towards stopping the needless export of good American jobs.”
The U.S. Workers Protection Act of 2004, which Dodd introduced earlier this month, would deny federal contracts to companies using overseas labor to do work previously done in the United States . It would also bar state governments from using federal money for services performed outside the United States .
Dodd’s office said that 40 percent of Fortune 1000 companies use foreign labor and as many as 3.3. million jobs may be sent overseas in the next 15 years, causing American workers to lose up to $136 billion in wages.
The senator did not say how many contracts or how much federal money his legislation would affect. The senator did acknowledge the bill had little chance of passing in a Republican-controlled Congress.
Frank Johnston, president of the Manufacturing Alliance of Connecticut, said his organization would back the bill.
“It’s an outrage how many jobs we are losing in this country,” said Johnston , whose organization represents workers. “So having somebody like Sen. Dodd come forward and raise awareness on the issue and get it out in the public debate can only be helpful.”
Seven representatives of labor unions and manufacturing companies across Connecticut , including the Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce and The Organization for the Rights of American Workers, attended Dodd’s press conference.
Johnston said the community, labor and business leaders turned out of concern for the 28,000 manufacturing jobs the state has lost in the past 36 months.
” Connecticut has always been the cradle of innovation,” he said. “We have a real strong, passionate group in Connecticut that is very concerned about the whole array of jobs we are losing. We believe that if something is going to get done, we have to do it.”
Officials from the Connecticut Department of Labor agreed that Dodd’s legislation deals with an issue important to the state.
“Its initial purpose is that we don’t start shipping jobs over, regardless,” said department economist John Tirinzonie. “But manufacturing is an important issue, and of all areas the manufacturing sector is where we have to protect our workers here in Connecticut .”
Tirinzonie added that “it’s just to ensure that every bit of outsourcing stays here in the state. . It certainly would be a help.”
But economist Peter Gioia of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association warned that the act might not be the answer to the state’s job woes and could, in fact, make a grave situation worse.
“When we propose legislation like this, foreign countries could retaliate,” he said. “What if they introduced legislation that mirrored this U.S. legislation?”
Such action could seriously harm the hundreds of thousands of jobs provided by the 1,200 foreign-owned companies based in Connecticut , Gioia said.
“The legislation, where it may be well-meaning, could be very detrimental in practice to American business overall and could have unforeseen negative impacts.”
