Industry in the USA

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Discuss how and why many vocational jobs have changed over the years?

Industry in the USA

The USA has been an outstanding industrial power, and industry workers have been the foundation of American work life. After the Civil War, the country was transformed by the enormous growth of industry, and by 1900 it was a nation of growing cities, of coal and steel production, and of engines and fast communication. Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line, which reduced the costs of production. Lower production costs made possible both higher wages for workers and lower prices for customers.

The aim of industry was often to see how cheaply the products could be made. In the end, the greatest industry of America, the auto industry, had to face the struggle of foreign competition. Some manufacturers did not make it, while others moved abroad to cut production costs. In their wake, new industry appeared, especially within new technology. These tech products range from airplanes to televisions, microchips to satellites, and microwaves to ultra-high-speed computers. However, these industries are highly automated and therefore need fewer workers than the traditional factories. Thus, the need for American workers in manufacturing has declined, and many people struggle to find work.

abroad utenlands/utanlands outstanding enestående/eineståande transformed forvandlet/forvandla coal kull/kol steel stål assembly line samlebånd/samleband range strekker seg fra / strekkjer seg frå decline gått ned unallocate legge ned / leggje ned plant anlegg predominantly hovedsakelig/ hovudsakleg suffers from lider under / lid under blue-collar worker typisk håndverker / typisk handverkar

What happens to a factory town when the factory shuts down? One morning everything changed for Dave Green and his colleagues at a General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio. "Management walks in 15 minutes late ... and they say, ‘Hey, Vurderingseksemplarwe’re going to unallocate the plant’ – that was it" remembers Green, president of Local 1112 of the United Auto Workers, which represents workers at a General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio (2019). The workers were not even sure what was meant by “unallocate”. Since 1966, the Lordstown plant had produced more than 16 million vehicles for General Motors, but suddenly the plant was shut down. The shutdown would ultimately cause the loss of nearly 8,000 jobs. For a small-town community, that is devastating.

A plant closing is about much more than lost paychecks. People’s sense of belonging is shattered, and it can lead to depression. For a factory town like this, the whole town changes due to this situation. Men have worked in the factories their whole professional life, and sons grew up to work there like their fathers. They have no other experience and education. The whole city is built around the industry, so if the top of the chain is shut down, the rest is affected. Some of the workers chose to move to work at another plant far away, while others protested to reallocate the plant.

UNION WORK

● In 1954, nearly 35% of American workers had a union membership. ● In 2018, the number was just under 10.5%. ● Still, most Americans support members earn more than non-union workers.

SOURCE Desilver, D. 2019. 10 facts about American workers. Pew Research Center, 29 August. Pewresearch.org

SOURCE line. New York Times, 1 May. Nytimes.com

WATCH 8 Mile. 8 Mile Road is the highway between the predominantly black city of Detroit and the largely white suburban communities to the north.

The poor Detroit working class suffers from bad jobs, a bad community and a government that is not ACTION 12 Write ten key words from the text about industry in the USA. 13 Do an online search for the film 8 Mile. Watch the trailer and write key words of your impression of the characters and their surroundings. interested in their well-being. The main character, Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith Jr, is a young, unhappy, bluecollar car factory worker from a poor family. He is played by the rapper Eminem, who comes from a similar background. Vurderingseksemplar

14 Work in groups. a Retell the content in the text based on your ten key words. b Find the meaning of the word “unallocate”. Discuss why the management used this word and not a more familiar one. c Discuss why work is so important for a sense of belonging.

d What is more important, economic growth or making sure people have jobs? Discuss the responsibility of a business owner. e Link the American Dream to making tough decisions, such as firing people. Discuss the connection and whether there is a limit to f I ndividually, search for other factory ghost towns in the USA. Discuss and compare your findings in the group.

15 Find the source of the text online and study the full photo essay. Create a presentation of one of the previous workers featured in the photo essay. Include a fact box about the factory shutdown and suitable illustrations.