| The new study, called "Ohio's Eight Years of Economic Pain, 2001-08," also found that 83 of Ohio's 88 counties-- a staggering 94 percent-- experienced at least one company shutdown or layoff since 2001.
The study is one of the most comprehensive to date and was released by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH), and Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola. Both publically-available and private data sources were used in the analysis.
"Wrong-headed trade agreements have betrayed Ohio's middle class families and devastated our communities," Brown said. "Our current trade policy rewards companies that ship jobs overseas and forces businesses at home to close. Ohio can't afford four more years of Bush-McCain-style of trade. A new direction for trade isn't just sound policy for Ohio, it's good business."
Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola said, "John McCain has a 25 year track record of voting against working men and women and their families. That's why organized labor in Ohio is working so hard for Barack Obama. He represents the real change Ohio and America needs and he will be a true friend to working families everywhere."
The study is a joint project of the Ohio Democratic Party and the Ohio Campaign for Change. For a copy of the full study, go to www.ohiodems.org/economicpain.
OVERVIEW OF REPORT FINDINGS
• Since George W. Bush took office in 2001, 1,087 Ohio factories and companies shut down or had mass layoffs, resulting in 180,264 Ohio workers losing their jobs.
• That's an average of one Ohio plant closing or mass layoff every two and a half days and 61 job losses each day - for eight straight years.
• 83 of Ohio's 88 counties (94%) experienced at least one plant closing/mass layoff since 2001.
• John McCain has a long record of failing to protect Ohio jobs, including voting for NAFTA, CAFTA, and other unfair trade deals; voting against providing workers advance notice of plant closings; supporting overseas outsourcing efforts; and undermining programs designed to retrain workers.
• At least 286 individual Ohio cities have faced at least one plant shutdown or mass layoff. Ohio's larger cities - historically the heart of its manufacturing base - have been hit hard by the failed GOP policies, with 58,724 jobs lost due to 324 plant closings or mass layoffs.
• Smaller cities in Ohio - generally with a less diverse economic base-- are hit relatively harder by job losses or mass layoffs than are larger cities. In fact, cities with populations between 5,000 and 25,000 have lost a total of 64,189 jobs due to 362 plant closings or mass layoffs.
• More than 78,000 workers from over two dozen labor unions lost their jobs in Ohio due to 365 company shut downs or mass layoffs - that's 43 percent of the total job loss during that same time.
Read the report at www.ohiodems.org/economicpain.
Todd Hoffman
Director of Internet Operations
Ohio Democratic Party |
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