Created: April 21, 2021 05:18 PM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) Wednesday New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced new legislation that could help keep jobs on American soil.
It’s called the “End Outsourcing Act” and it’s designed to keep good-paying manufacturing jobs in the United States and to help re-employ millions of people who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
According to Sen. Gillibrand, New York State lost 1 million jobs 10% of our workforce during the pandemic. She says pandemic job losses top off an existing trend she’s seen over the past two decades. Between 2001 and 2015, the United States lost more than 3 million jobs to China alone,” said Gillibrand. “Nearly three in four of those jobs were in manufacturing.
“They deserve it. That’s according to Mike Huerta, president of United Auto Workers Union Local 602. The local’s 2,400 members build the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia Limited at the Lansing Delta Township plant.
Huerta praises his members for returning to work before much of the country did in the early months of the pandemic. “They’ve gone through a very stressful year and a half, Huerta says, and we’ve come out on the other side of it, knock on wood. Hopefully, as the economy starts opening up, this will continue.”
Huerta voices pride in his members, adding we’re proud of our product, and we’re proud of our membership, who on incredibly difficult circumstances still manages to churn out the best vehicles in the country as far as I’m concerned.”