Years of offshoring and outsourcing has devastated America's manufacturing sector, leaving the Schneider Electric Manufacturing Plant in Lincoln, Neb., the last factory to make circuit breakers here in the United States.
Says plant employee and Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2366 member Shelley McVey:
People say that there’s hardly anything made in the United States anymore. And our breakers are. Schneider Electric has Square D breakers and that’s what we make in the United States.
The more than 300 Local 2366 members say they have managed to keep their work in the U.S. through a renewed commitment to excellence on the job and keeping up with the latest technological innovations to increase productivity.
Says Local 2366 Business Manager Jerry Gulizia
For the long term success of our manufacturing facility—to keep our members employed—we definitely had to come up with some things to increase productivity. By initiating these programs, you are getting the most value for the dollars that you spend hiring IBEW union workers.
Schneider Electric Manufacturing stands as an example on how unions and business can come together to revive American manufacturing and create good jobs.
Says plant manager Mark Henning:
We are the only competitor that still manufactures circuit breakers in the US. The skilled work force and the automation together as a team deliver those results and it’s why we’re still here in the US.
But the best part, says employees, is being able to say that they their products are still "Made in the U.S.A.".
Says member Carol Borgmann:
The American workers has had such a bad rap for so long that we’re lazy, that we don’t do anything, and that’s why everything has gone offshore—which I disagree with. The American workers are proud to work American and they’re proud to say I built this in America.
Watch plant employees tell their story: