Manufacturing Think Tank

Everyone in this room knows we’re in bad shape, and it’s not getting better. Every month this year has brought worse news on unemployment numbers, May brought a 0.5% increase to bring the total to 5.5%, an increase that was the largest since the mid-1980s, and the highest rate since late 2004. Over the past six months private-sector employment has fallen by 411,000; the long-term unemployed share is up to 18.3%; the underemployment rate is at 9.7%; all of which add up to the fact that almost 10% of the workforce is unemployed or underemployed.

Can there be a restoration and even an increase in the role and
prominence of US manufacturing in the context of capitalist
globalization today?

Tuesday I went to the Intl Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) library, spoke with the librarian and did some research. At this point, I’m able to write about two aspects relating to the question I took on: that is, transportation generally and particularly developments at U.S. ports in determining a “progressive industrial policy.” For the labor commission next month, after I read the materials I got from the library and perhaps have a follow-up discussion with the librarian, I hope to be able to give a fuller picture.

As concern has grown both over the consequences of global warming and over the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs in the U.S., much attention has begun to be focused on the “green” economy and “green” jobs.

This pamphlet is published by the Communist Party in support of the Left Wing Programme launched earlier this year, and as a contribution towards the on-going debate about an alternative economic strategy for Britain, with particular reference to restoring the fortunes of Britain’s manufacturing industry. This, it is argued, is essential for an improved rate of economic growth and a more balanced economy, in which the different sectors support one another’s development. It should not be regarded as a blueprint, or an official statement of Communist Party policy, but as a basis for a wide-ranging discussion and new thinking within the labour and trade union movement and beyond.

Prepared for CPUSA Conference March 14-16, 2008
by Art Perlo (aperlo peoplebeforeprofitsnet)
Draft 3c -- Final -- 2008.03.13

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