The GE Lighting plant in Bucyrus, Ohio has survived 13 US presidential terms and survived two economic recessions and a global pandemic.

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But now its future is at stake. 

I am proud to be the third-generation employee of GE Lighting. My grandfather, my dad, my sister, my husband and two daughters, my aunts, uncles, cousins ​​and in-laws... Together, we have provided this company with less than 500 years of loyal service. We asked to see At this point loyalty is rewarded. 

This facility has been in our community for more than 70 years, and we are proud to be able to clock in and produce light bulbs every day in one of the last residential lighting facilities in the country. But after decades of loyal service to GE Lighting, the workers in our factory are fighting for our future again.

Earlier this year, GE Lighting moved the A-19 LED bulb product line overseas and permanently laid off nearly 70 workers, putting the future of our factory at risk. 

In 2020, GE sold its lighting business to Savant Systems, which previously received a staggering US$90 million from leading global investors. GE again used a similar script to divide itself into three separate public sectors to "drive long-term growth."

What Bucyrus workers need to drive growth is investment—investing in our labor, hollow factories and union work in Bucyrus.  

However, jobs like Bucyrus that can maintain families and power communities are not unexpected. On the contrary, as more and more of the jobs we count on taking care of our families are offshored to increase shareholder profits, countless towns like ours have exhausted their lifeblood. 

A strong manufacturing industry is vital to maintaining our country’s economic competitiveness and continued national security, and it urgently needs a strong recovery from the pandemics and economic crises we have experienced.

Currently, more than 687,000 Ohioans work in manufacturing. This represents for every eighth of the jobs in our state, one for every $6. GE Lighting knows that workers in our state are always on call, ready to seize opportunities to power the future of our country, just as we have always done. The question is: Will GE Lighting let us?

As GE Lighting continues to close its facilities and squeeze suppliers to export good jobs and operations to other countries, it is stifling our domestic engineering, innovation and development.

The light bulb was invented in the United States, but our factory is one of the last residential lighting factories in the country. A strong manufacturing industry is vital to our economic recovery and prosperity-this is our ticket to revitalize the country and the national economy.

There is still time for GE Lighting to again place big bets on American workers and reinvest in the communities that power the United States. We are ready to do it again, so let us light up the lights for American families. 

Barb Basore is an employee of GE Lighting and a member of IUE-CWA Local 84704.