By Kevin Henning
For the “Progressive Views” column, Boerne Star, May 11, 2025
I love to buy products made in America and strive to do so whenever and wherever I can. This is one thing we can all do to help return good jobs to the United States. In the 40 years since manufacturing employment peaked, industry has struggled to regain the prominence it once had. Sizeable job losses occurred within durable goods manufacturing, especially metals and machinery, and computer and electrical products.
Following World War II, our nation excelled at building almost everything and factory pay was good. Our advantage came in part from having a factory base built up for war that had not been destroyed like those in Asia and Europe. Also, our workers were able to command good pay and according to the Economic Policy Institute, the disparity between corporate CEOs was only about 15 times that of the typical worker. Unions had widespread public support and could command decent wages. There was tremendous demand for cars, homes, baby carriages, and so much more as the baby boomer generation came into being.
Unfortunately, by the late 1960s, changes began to affect markets. Corporations seeking higher profits and returns for their shareholders sought to move production to lower cost areas. First they moved to the southern United States where they could avoid unionization, then on to international locations where labor costs were much lower. Countries like Germany and Japan had built new factories with the latest technology that were now capable of producing higher quality products than what we could do with our older technology. Unfortunately, many corporations chose to maximize short-term profits with old technology rather than reinvest in state-of-the-art facilities. This led to industrial centers like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, and so many others to begin a long, slow decline. By 1980, CEOs were now earning about 30 times what the typical worker was earning.
In 1982, U. S. Steel bought the oil company I worked for rather than make investments in the steel business to enhance productivity. Another company, Nucor went in the opposite direction, investing in new steel technology. They are now the largest steel manufacturer and recycler in the United States. Today, they get what’s important and typified by the quote: “The green economy is being built with steel and the steel it’s built with matters. Together with our partners, Nucor is leading the charge across industries to create a more sustainable, carbon-free future at the scale of industry.”
A majority of heavy manufacturing job losses are due to the decisions by U.S firms, not due to imports. According to the Economic Policy Institute, from 1980 to 2019, manufacturing saw employment go from 19 million to 11.5 million. Over the same period, total employment in the U. S. grew by 60 million workers as technology and service industries took off. China became hugely successful at manufacturing because of lower labor costs. In addition, they excelled at pirating and stealing technology. U.S. companies seemed to tolerate China’s extreme behavior because of a desire to have access to Chinese markets. By 2020, CEO pay was now a whopping 290 times the typical worker. Today, the national minimum wage stands at $7.25 per hour in the U.S. and Texas. It has not been raised since 2009. CEO compensation has shot up over 1000% versus a typical worker who has seen only a 24% increase. This seems completely haywire to me.
CEOs are getting paid more because they control their corporate boards. Yet these same CEOs have let our country and the American worker down by over-rewarding top management, leaving fewer gains for ordinary workers. They have allowed jobs to flow to other countries and have made way more money for themselves in the process. The current administration’s attacks on workers’ rights and dismantling of critical federal agencies have left workers with fewer rights and have put the U.S. economy on a path toward an economic downturn.
The Democratic Party stands alongside the American worker and labor unions in defense of fair pay and economic security. It is time for politicians to raise the minimum wage and corporations to put workers on their boards.
To learn more, check out the Kendall County Democratic Party website at www.kcdems.us.
Kevin Henning is a local Democrat.
