Michigan Electrician glad to find factory job

Workers protest loss of U.S. jobs
Saturday, May 08, 2004By Julia Bauer and Steven Harmon
The Grand Rapids Press

Unemployed, under-employed, or just happy to have a job.

Today, electrician Mario Tabiadon falls into the last two categories.

He just found a factory job in Kalamazoo after 11 months without work. His last job with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers paid $23.87 an hour, to build a power plant in Benton Harbor.

Now he's making $11 an hour as a production worker at Checkers Motors Co., a 75-minute commute from his Grand Rapids home.

On Friday, Tabiadon joined 18 job hunters and union officials at a protest called by the state AFL-CIO. The group gathered outside Keeler Die Cast, a Grand Rapids business closing this month under pressure from Chinese manufacturing.

Tabiadon said he and his wife have stopped eating out, going to movies and or hunting for the antiques they love. They also dropped their Internet and cell phone services.

"I gave up looking for electrician work. Checkers was the only one that called, out of 57 applications," he said.

Sheetmetal Workers Union representative Tim Caron, wearing a Kerry campaign button, said President Bush hasn't tried to protect U.S. jobs.

"He hasn't lifted a finger," Caron said.

Several union members said they were offended when state GOP party chairwoman Betsy DeVos said last week that high wages in Michigan are one deterrent to a statewide recovery.

DeVos should apologize for those comments, said Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO.

"It's tax policies that send jobs to China. Michigan can compete with anyone when trade is fair," he said.

Caron estimates that 25 percent of sheetmetal workers are out of a job this spring.



© 2004 Grand Rapids Press.