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American Factory (2019)
Everyone get close to everyone
so you can touch someone. This is very serious. It's more serious than you can imagine. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for... just being our God, and for all that you do. We thank you for this day, and... we thank you for the chill in this air, Father. Because we thank you for the sunshine, because you create the chill and you create the sunshine. And you know these are tough times, Father. We're asking this morning for your guidance. - Amen. - Amen. We stand here today, uh, with a plant that's closing, with a... a deep, rich history, and, uh, it's sad for me and, I'm sure, everybody else in there to see it go, but I will say this: I'm extremely proud of the people that work in this plant here. There's none better. They know how to get the job done. - How old are these houses? - Two hundred years? No way! America was founded only 200 years ago. Oh. - Then at least several decades. - Yeah, maybe. - Cold? - Yeah. But this is really beautiful. Yeah, gorgeous. See, America's airspace is really busy. There's one. - And there. - Mmm. When you take a look at an automobile, you see glass all around it. That's what we do. We have about 70% of the market. Okay? Which is pretty extensive. We have facilities around the world, throughout China, United States now, with our plant here. What we're doing is we're melding two cultures together: the Chinese culture and the US culture. So we are truly a global organization. So, we do have three different shifts right now that we are working with. A first, second, and a third. Pretty traditional. You'll also have a 30-minute unpaid lunch. Plus, there's two 15-minute paid breaks. Plenty of opportunities, ladies and gentlemen. Plenty of opportunities. Is this a union shop? We are not. It is our desire to not be. But we recognize that, one, we need to do things right by employees. Okay? We recognize that. - I have, actually, 28 years experience. - Very good. Payroll, human resources, operations, things like that. I have a master's - in mechanical engineering too, so... - Okay, good. Super. - Sounds like you got a lot of good skills. - Well, I... Actually, I've worked - in all kinds of different levels of... - Yeah? Okay, good. What we'll do is we'll take a look at your rsum. All right? Where you sit today used to be a General Motors plant. This plant closed, leaving 2,000 families unemployed. And now, there are over 1,000 employees working here, with still more to be hired. It was a little over two years ago that this facility was a very dark and very stark reminder of the greatest economic downturn in American history since the Great Depression. And with that, you understand the... the personal impact that that has, individually and for the families of all those involved. It's been a very fast process from the very beginning. When I hired in, there was nothing in the plant. And since that time, you can see, in the last six months, the amount of people and equipment that have come in. And it's, uh, exciting. The commitment everybody's put in, hard work. Uh, we're looking forward to starting production. Since you've arrived in America, I believe you've found many things different from life in China. We need to get to know Americans. America is a place to let your personality run free. As long as you're not doing anything illegal, you're free to follow your heart. You can even joke about the president. Nobody will do anything to you. Americans' cars are big and huge, very comfortable. This represents the American sense of casualness. They don't place a heavy importance on outfits and attire. If you travel in Europe in the summertime, and you see someone walking in front of you, if he's wearing shorts, vests, and sports shoes, they must be an American. Americans say what they are thinking directly. They don't hide anything. They are very obvious. Everything is practical and realistic. They dislike abstractions and theory in their daily lives. Time is limited today, so I won't keep going. The list here is really long. Wow, thank you. As required by Chairman, we will have an opening celebration on October 7th. From now on, I ask you to keep October 7th in mind and work hard towards this grand celebration. Welcome, Chairman. Good to see you. This one is the Chevrolet S-10. It was made in 1982. That's the first one they made. The first car from the GM plant. Wow, Dayton was very well developed back then? Exactly. A very well developed area. "I have a secret to share, and from the bottom of my heart, I love Ohio, and I love the place where I invest significantly, here in Dayton." This is a historic project that is gonna help grow this community, give people jobs, and give a future to your kids and my kids that did for those trucks back there when our parents and grandparents worked on refrigerators and cars. And the future is bright, folks. The future is bright. Please join me in acknowledging the newly-named Fuyao Avenue. "Good morning, everyone. And we meet again today." Every time I visit this plant, I see a lot of changes. "Every time when I visit, I see great progress." You see there's still empty space for more equipment. It will all be installed within a year. "If we can follow through with our plan and become successful here, this will be a great example of the US successfully attracting foreign investment." Thank you very much. "Thank you very much." He says that a lot of people lost their jobs in this area, and he thanks you for the opportunity. And tell him, one time, he has to come down here and eat some barbecue with us. - Okay. - Thank you. So the clients are satisfied? Yes, very satisfied. Especially Chrysler. I am pairing an American with a Chinese. The American is the main operator, with a Chinese supervisor by their side. They're pretty slow. They have fat fingers. We keep training them over and over. How you doing? The chairman has said from the beginning this is an American company. It's Fuyao Glass America. It needs to be an American company, we need to treat it like an American company, but we need to be successful just like all our plants throughout the world. So, basically, this line, that's the stage. So from there back to the stage, - and then people out that way. - Facing that way. - Yeah. - We're talking, like, a concert stage without cover and potentially a overhang for weather. We're gonna have to plan for that. You know what I mean? Like, a concert... Chairman thinks we're okay with October weather, so you don't need any hang. - No hang. - What if it rains? It won't. It won't. In October, the weather will be like it is today. Chairman thinks, in October, the weather will be similar - to... today. - Today? Also, Chairman says that door can't face this way. - What door? - Face... You know, the opening right there. Well, we just signed a contract, so... - What? - That's a big... You gotta talk to Jimmy about... I don't know. - I think it's... - Jimmy, do you understand what he means? We just did a purchase order and ordered a garage door and stuff. So, you gotta face some other direction, I think. - So... - They already put the door in. So we're gonna have to change it. Is that okay? - Yeah, we need to change it. - Okay. Yeah, Z, just change it. That's gonna cost us $35,000. I have an idea, but I am not sure it's a good one. We hang two artworks here. One is something iconic of China, like the Great Wall. - The other one is from the US. - No. Only American ones. Only American ones. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Don't upset them. American, just... They haven't done good decorative work here. This can't be here. It should be moved to the side. There are... It's required by law to have one in here, and it has to be that height. They're just saying - that it should be moved to the side. - We can move it, yeah. Huh? David says that is the required height. We can't place it down there. It has to be that high. We can move it to that corner. Then up there. It's a legal requirement. I'll ask him. He has to ask and see. He knows this is the right height. But sometimes, you have to think, uh, before you do, so then we don't have to redo the work, because it costs money. Yeah, I've... That was done... I wouldn't have necessarily moved, but that was done way before I got here. Catch another big fish! Did you all set the bait this way? - Looks fucking cool! - How do you set it? You got the Fuyao employees down here doing it. - Oh, yeah? - They all work at Fuyao. - Fuyao or Fiyao? - Fuyao. Fiyao? Is that how it's pronounced? Fuyao. F-U-Y-A-O. - Fuyao, Inc. - Fuyao? - Yes, Fuyao Company. - What type of company is that? Uh... - Automotive glass. They make the glass... - Yes, make glass. - Oh, nice. Okay. - The car glass. - Okay, wow, glass. - Yes. - Ooh, that's a big one right there. - Big, yes. Very big. - How speak English? - Carp. - Carp. - Carp. C-A-R-P. Carp. - C-A-R-P. Carp. Carp. - Yep. Those are carp. Now, the carp that you're catching - likes corn and Wheaties. - Uh-huh. Have you heard of Wheaties cereal? - I don't know. Wheaty... - Never heard of Wheaties? - Wheaties? I don't know. - Wheaties. - Wheaties. - Wheaties. Yeah, buddy. You'd be surprised how good Wheaties works. Wheaties? W-E-D-S? W-E-E-T-E-S. - No. I don't know that. - Okay. Yup, it does the best. Looks like they're getting ready to go, huh? We're going home to gut the fish, and we'll come back. All right, Leon. I'mma go home and get me something to eat. - I'll be back down. - Okay, okay. - I'll be back down. - Nice to meet you. All right, Leon. - Patty? - Yes? - I'm getting ready to leave. - Okay. Mmm. - All right. - Have a good day. For a year and a half, I didn't have anything. When I started at Fuyao, I was thankful, I was blessed, I was... just on my knees, thanking God that I had something. - Hey, what's up, man? - Hey, what's going on? Going good. - All right? - Yeah. This is the best game in town right now. Going back in there for the first time, I kind of welled up because... I could see the post locations... you know, on the columns, you know? Which actually tells you where you are in the plant. People still get lost. I said, "I don't get lost." At General Motors, I was making $29 and some change an hour. At Fuyao, I make 12.84. Back then, if my kids wanted a pair of new gym shoes, I could just go get them. I can't just do that now. We lost our home, we lost a vehicle. - Have a good weekend. - All right, you too. When GM closed, I foreclosed on my house. Ever since then, I have struggled to try to get back to middle class again. I've been living in my sister's basement. I am fortunate enough to have a bedroom. And the only thing in here is my end tables and my TV. The bed isn't mine. The bed is theirs. You know? So, yeah. We've been down about... I don't know, 45 minutes or so. Water spots, I guess. Thank you. They've drained the washer. They're slowing it down. They get upset when we're all trying to figure something out. Everybody gets upset, and then everybody's upset in their own language, and then everybody just walks their own way, and... meet back here in five minutes. Set the water temperature to 60. Because it has high alkalinity. Okay. Later on, we're going to try to lower the... Okay. Be careful! Beautiful! Beautiful! Down a little. Down a little bit! This damn thing... - Allen wrench. - Allen. Allen. Allen wrench. - Allen wrench. - Allen wrench. My first impression of Ohio was how flat it is. My family's in China. Two lovely children and a beautiful wife. Fuyao offered me my first job at 18. I've worked in the furnace for more than 20 years. It's a hard job, but I love it. Because of the language barrier and cultural differences, it's hard to quickly integrate everyone's ideas. I don't have much time to eat every day. So every week, I bring a box of Twinkies. This is my lunch. I eat two at a time. Look at the red sticks. This one is broken. We have to pull it out by ourselves. Look at the scars on my arm. These are all scalds. I got burned. Air. Uh, Wong and I have spent a lot of time together with him teaching me everything... Mother's Day, we spent the whole weekend working together with our little translators, talking back and forth. Uh... That's when they told me that they had to be here two years, away from their family, no extra pay. That really made me start thinking and appreciating what they're doing for us more and more. I've ate at their house, they've ate at my home. We've just bonded. And we've tried to learn each other's culture. I got the big idea, Thanksgiving, to... invite my close friends, which should have been about four or five of them. It ended up being, I think, 13. Bought a 25-pound turkey, the biggest honey-baked ham I could get, and all of the traditional trimmings. I know that in China they're not allowed to have guns. We had my 12-gauge shotgun out there, pistols. Couple of the very brave ones wanted to go up and down the road with me on my Harley. They talked about it forever. That made me happy. That's the front page of The Washington Post, fellas. That's big-time. The only negative thing that I can see from this article is that, out of our 2,000 people, they picked the number one UAW... uh, organizer and sympathizer to talk to. Number one. - Anyway, um, it's a big deal. - That's a big deal. With all of this scrutiny and with all of this visibility comes even more responsibility on us to do things right. Now the whole world is watching. Now the whole world is watching us. It should say have "to be the world." Yeah, they said they had an S. Good afternoon. - Right? - Good afternoon! Good afternoon. Thank you guys very much. You don't know how important this is to Fuyao and to the chairman. The plant looks great. These people are coming here to see something that they never in their lifetime thought would happen. You have given hope and you have given life to a community that was desolate. This is one of the greatest projects in the history of the United States. So, be proud, and most importantly, have fun. Two lands, - the bridge is what brings us together. - Yeah. And the... How do you say in English? - The bond. - Bond. Yeah, bond. Bond. Yes, bond. Welcome. Welcome to the US! Today the chairman's vision has been fulfilled. Fuyao has invested close to 500 million. Ni hao. Really good seeing you guys. Thank you. Thanks for having us out here. We really appreciate it. - It's a big deal. - Absolutely. This is big. A lot of people. - Nice weather, man. - Oh, my gosh. Chairman ordered the weather. - Oh, I mean, it couldn't be better. - Right. Hang in there. - How you doing, Dave? - Good to see you. Yeah, all right. "My dear guests and friends, good morning." Today, we hold the opening ceremony of Fuyao Glass America. We've heard both candidates for president refer to Ohio as the Rust Belt. And, you know, you look at... look at this today, and we reject that term. With Chairman Cao, we know how to make everything in this state. And, uh, this is a terrific example. One last point: I know many workers here are trying to form a union to strengthen their voice in this great company. Ohio has a rich... a rich, rich history of unions and management working together. I support those in this community, in this plant, in this crowd that want to vote on whether or not to join a union. I hope Fuyao looks at it the same way. Thank you all so much. Who the fuck does he think he is? Out of place, totally out of place. Fuck him. Three, two, one! Our glass is totally made in USA. Ladies, you're doing a beautiful job. Create good glass and transfer good glass. The senator mentioned the workers union in his speech. Does Fuyao have any good strategies for avoiding these risks? Hey, Charles. How you doing, man? Dave, there's one thing I gotta talk to you about. - Mm-hmm. - Regarding Sherrod Brown's comments... - Yes. - Uh... You know, that's obviously not beneficial to us. Absolutely right. - Don't wanna talk about certain topics. - Correct. So I think, at this point, Chairman, you know, will definitely ask about - what we're gonna do about it. - It's okay. Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna have to kill a senator. I'm gonna take those big scissors and cut the... Senator Brown's head. He... - It's big. - He didn't tell us he was gonna do that. He did that on purpose, so they're cut off. They'll never be allowed in the plant again. You all know our stand on this. We don't want to see the union developing here. "First, you all know our stand on this, that we want to avoid unions." If we have a union, it will impact our efficiency, thus hurting our company. It will create loss for us. If a union comes in, I'm shutting down. They keep interfering with my production. Slowly bleeding money is even worse than a union. "Uh, right now, if they're creating extreme inefficiency in my production, I'm just bleeding money." John, if you want to continue to be president, you have to listen to my advice. Every piece of glass counts. Every piece that goes down that line and goes... gets on that customer truck, it matters. Our customers are counting on us. General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda. Whether it's coming from China or whether it's coming from Dayton, it's the same... it's the same thing. We have to be able to provide them glass at the same level of efficiency, the same level of cost and quality. It's audit day. We don't have glass to show them. We should have some ready for the customers to check. The glass is gonna run through the furnace, basically the same as the other furnace over here. This one's just a little bit faster. So it comes down the line, it comes in here. Down in here is another one of those free-liners that puts the glass into position. This is an automatic... Keep it or throw it out? - Throw out. - Throw it...? Okay. There must be some flaws if the glass exploded. The overall quality of the glass is not good enough, but there's no way to improve it now. We still want to achieve our targets. One is output. The second is speed. We need one more person. Transfer someone from China here. You have the Chinese, who want numbers on this side. You have Quality, who wants customer satisfaction on this side. And we're in the middle. Today was a shitshow, totally a shitshow. Any little microscopic chip can cause a breakage. As soon as it hits the press, it begins to cool. If there's a... Got it? Four hundred-and-something degrees. And they're six feet away from it? We need to find some solutions, whether it's them stepping into a colder room as soon as they leave there... We've gotta get them some relief. How much time do you spend in there? About ten minutes or so. - Ten minutes an hour, a day, a...? - Uh... Sometimes every hour. So every hour? So you go in there, it's about 200 degrees, and you clean up in there for about two hours... All right. The conditions... are not favorable. Doing the same thing over and over again. That wears on you. Body, mind... You're so... It's... Sometimes you think... "Why am I doing this?" You think about whether you have the stamina and the will to do this type of job. Anything they're not happy about? It gets really hot in here. Our American colleagues are very afraid of heat. We try to give them the environment they want, as long as it's within a reasonable budget. The spaces between the production lines are pretty narrow. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration thinks it's too dense. "A tall tree catches the wind." Yes, it's a huge tree. Let's welcome Chairman! Dear staff, good morning. We haven't reached our goals. This is a very tough challenge for us. We are all Chinese. We were born of Chinese mothers. No matter where you die or are buried, you will always be Chinese. The motherland is like a mother. This is eternal. Today, Chinese come to the US to operate factories. The most important thing is not how much money we earn, but how this will change Americans' views of the Chinese and towards China. Every Chinese person should do things for our country and our people. It's down to every one of you here. American workers are not efficient, and output is low. I can't manage them. When we try to manage them, they threaten to get help from the union. How can we make Americans understand that the Chinese can open factories in America? This is a big problem. - Hey. Welcome. Thank you. - Welcome. Nice to see you again. - How are you? Good? - Good. - How are you? - Hi. Welcome. Noble sentiments Are transparent For the sake of transparency We've gone through difficulties For the sake of transparency We've struggled every bit Fuyao holds up A transparent world China is filled with spring And happiness is everywhere All the blessings from Fuyao Are transparent Ni hao. - Ni hao. - Pleasure. Ni hao. Good morning. Pleasure to meet you. - Good morning. - Good morning. - Ni hao. - Nice to meet you. - Thank you. - Good morning. Nice to meet you. - Ni hao. - Ni hao. Ni hao. Good morning, my name is John Withrow. I'm supervisor in Lamination. Uh, good morning. I'm Austin Cole. I'm a tempering backlight production supervisor. Uh, Jon Helton, the continuous improvement supervisor. Good morning, Darren Noble. Lead supervisor, ARG packaging assembly. Welcome, everybody. Welcome home. The whole world is looking at FGA and you guys are the top guns. We are investing in the US. We love the country, and we want to be part of the country and provide benefits to the country. And we hope that FGA will be profitable soon and to let our customers know that we are a strong company. This is a very valuable time and also a special time. Tonight we'll have you join our year-end group party, and, uh, we also hope you can, uh, get some time to taste local cuisines. Thank you for putting us up in a nice hotel. Yes. I think that we are also anxious to see how your process runs and look forward to taking back new ideas and implementations to help us run better as well. I can't breathe in that. Nonstop. - Okay. - Okay. This is the line they'll run 7,000 on? We hope someday to get this good. Attention! Dress right! Keep an eye on the distance between yourself and others. Eyes front! Straddle. Hello, everyone! Good! We are good. Number off! - One. - Two. - Three. - Four. - Five. - Six. - Seven. - Eight. - Nine. - Ten. Eleven. - Twelve. - Thirteen. - Fourteen. - Fifteen. - Sixteen. - Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Report! There should be 19 people in this team, and all 19 people are here. Over! Good afternoon. Good afternoon. - Sorry. - Sorry! Sorry! - Please. - Please. Please. - Thank you. - Thank you. Thank you. Attention. - Our team name is? - Improvement! Our slogan is? To stand still is to move back! Attention! The preparation meeting is over. Dismissed. I heard things are not going too well over there. Right. That's true. That's why we're doing training here. You guys have eight days off every month. You have all the weekends. Only eight hours a day. That's an easy life. Yes. These workers only have one or two days off per month. They're not too happy about that. That's why I told you American workers are too lazy. It's just your nature. But you're not bad. - Every person can be changed. - We have some extremely diligent workers. Very motivated, very ambitious. They're great. But most workers are there just to make money, not to make glass. How many hours a day do they work? Eight hours per shift. Eight hours. So about 100 dollars a day. Here we say you have to be worthy of your salary. You need to prove you deserve it. You understand, right? Yes, I understand. I heard that your workers like to joke around and talk a lot. The best tool we can use is duct tape. Put it over their mouths. They will perform better. - Tape? - Tape on their mouths. Can you do that there? No, we can't. But if we could do that, we'd have improved production. Because they're too chatty now. Well, the most important thing is thatyou all should be united and concentrate your efforts. It's not bad working here. I'm married. My child is in my hometown. We don't have many holidays, so I don't have much time to go back home. Only during the Spring Festival, once a year. We work 12 hours a shift. I'm tired, but I have no choice. We work whenever we're asked by our leader. I have two kids now. One is six months old, the other is four years old. They're pretty young. If we're too busy, we may not be able to take days off. I only go home once or twice a year. My older kid is 11, and the younger one is eight. I work long hours and I spend very little time with them. Holy shit. They don't have any safety glasses on, nothing. Unbelievable. Those aren't even cut-resistant gloves. Man, that is nuts. You gotta be kidding me. The glass in our factory... Different glass colors have different values for recycling. So they have to sort the colors. These people sit there all day long doing that. That's fucking crazy. Picking through fucking glass like that. We are energetic at Fuyao. All of us are energetic and happy to work here. All of our workers are members of the workers union. Mao Zedong, and this is Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping. These are the five leaders since China was established. Without backing from the government, the company wouldn't get too far. Our workers union and the company are closely related to each other. They are like two gears rotating together. We need our workers to fight for Fuyao's success. We are all in the same boat. Keeping the boat safe means everyone is safe. If the boat sinks, everyone loses their jobs. It's quite simple. Chairman Cao, here is a hada for you. Next on the red carpet will be workers from two teams. They have won the Excellent Team award. Year 2017... "Soaring ambitions." "The spirit of craftsmanship is all over China." Let's welcome Chairman Cao with our warmest applause! Dear Chairman, dear colleagues, tonight is a gathering time for our Fuyao family. Everybody performing tonight works here at Fuyao. We've cooked A joyful New Year's Eve dinner The family is cheerful The family is joyful We wish you radiant joy Happy New Year We wish you an auspicious New Year We wish you a safe year We wish your family a fortunate New Year May you be happy and prosperous! May the best come, may the worst leave Always be courteous and polite May you be happy and prosperous! Come on! Two words have become really popular recently. What are the words? Intelligence. Lean. Intelligent and lean manufacturing All industries should adopt them Finance, service, manufacturing Intelligent and lean manufacturing Technology is developing rapidly The information age Has already arrived... Employee relations system is amazing Great at resource integration And market response Waste eliminated And revenues generated Transition, upgrade Promotion, integration A corporation with lean manufacturing Fuyao is creating a new future! Uh, we're very impressed, everybody from the United States, with China's operations. Very harmonious people. You see it and you feel it. Young man There's no need to feel down I said, young man Pick yourself off the ground I said, young man 'Cause you're in a new town There's no need to be unhappy It's fun to stay at the YMCA It's fun to stay at the YMCA They have everything For the men to enjoy You can hang out with all the boys It's fun to stay at the YMCA... Please hold the hand of your bride. From this moment on, no matter poor or rich, you will always care for her, cherish her, and protect her, until forever. Will you? - Yes, I will. - Yes, I will. We're one... big planet. A world... somewhat divided. But we're one. And tonight is an example. - Happy. Happy. - Aww! Happytears. I'm very happy to share in your culture. - Thanks so much. - No, thank you. We are one. - Yes, we are one. - We are one. Yes. One tongue, one company. Yes. Thank you. - Aren't watermelons sweet? - Sweet! Choose the best picture to put on the cover of the next edition of Fuyao People! This is my community, um, and to see this building come back to life, it meant a lot to me. Fuyao is the leader, Fuyao is changing the industry, and I see us becoming number one in the world next year and number one in the world every year. - Yes, sir. How are you doing? - I have a really good idea for you. Why don't you film those three microwave ovens that have been out for two weeks - that haven't been replaced? - Okay. - Why don't you film that? - We will. And tell me why this area is now gonna be used for production - and no longer a lunchroom. - Uh... There's signs all over that say that. Where's the lunchroom gonna be? - I have no clue. You're telling me... - That's typical. You're telling me... telling me something new. I just got back from vacation. They're gonna take all the tables and all the chairs out and make this a production space. Like everywhere else. I hope they make your office a production space. They manage to have these things on all the time. This is America. We don't need Chinese children singing and praying. Coming back from the China trip, uh, some of the things I started implementing, uh... Well, the first thing I implemented was, uh... At our pre-shift meeting, we used to just kind of sit at the tables and talk and... watching the Chinese shift meeting, where he had them all lined up... I've found that that's worked out really well for me back here. Good morning, everybody! Greg, I need you to stand on two, starting off. Uh... Chuck, I need you standing on three. I think that's everybody. It's an experiment. So, the lines are running okay today? Uh, everybody got your glasses and boots? We're good? Any questions? Okay, let's have a good day. - They're gonna do surgery for your hand? - They're gonna tell me tomorrow. They'll tell you tomorrow what your recovery's gonna be. Yeah, they'll probably start at four weeks, determine what... you know, how it's gonna be, and then, from there, go to the eight weeks. I'm worried about my points. - No, no... - No, no, no, no. Don't worry about any of that. Don't have to worry about your points for missing time. I don't wanna lose my job. No, you're not gonna lose your job. - What's that? - My pay? Yes. It's covered? Yes. I don't know how all of that works, but it is. Yeah. Everybody at every level will say we really, really, really want to be safe. But safe doesn't pay the bills. The room that we work in, there's only one way in, no doors on the opposite side. If a fire breaks out, that's like being trapped. They're wanting us to pull one of those big sheets off and inspect it. Some of this float glass is so big that I'm gonna have people exposing their face, and I don't... I don't need to do that. A couple days ago, I had to tell the Chinese fellow that I absolutely refuse to pick up two loads with a stand-up forklift. It's not strong enough. I said, "If you want to do it, that's fine, you do it. I'm not doing it. I'm not... I'm not risking somebody's life." Out of all my working life, I have never ever had a workplace injury, ever. I mean, 15 years at General Motors, you know, never a workplace injury. And then my new job at Fuyao... what happens? I get a workplace injury. Right now, I'm outside the Moraine plant here, off of Kettering Boulevard. There have been 11 safety complaints filed against Fuyao. Some workers claim unsafe working conditions and unfair treatment. I say "people," you say "power." - People! - Power! - People! - Power! I say "people," you say "union." - People! - Union! - People! - Union! All right! Whoo! Uh, meeting after work, don't forget, next week. We'll see you there. Bring your coworkers. There's a lot of information that you're seeing on TV about Fuyao. "Safety concerns," um, other things that are... are being reported, much of which we do not believe are true. 'Cause if you bring in a union... this becomes illegal. You cannot do it anymore. Instead, if I'm an employee, I have to take my concerns to the union rep. When we had this training in private, I was horrified by this picture. If this becomes a reality, we wouldn't be able to communicate directly with our American coworkers. Isn't that terrible? If we are able to improve our management capabilities, it will help quell the union rebellion. "And if we are able to improve our management capabilities, it will help with our campaign against union organizations..." We hired Americans to work as our managers and supervisors. Our expectation was that we could trust them, pay them a high salary, and they would serve the company. Why didn't they? I think they are hostile to Chinese. The loss from January to October is about 40 million US dollars. We have to reverse the tide as soon as possible. With the new restructuring, I believe we will see this plant in profit very soon. We've invited Jeff Liu to be our new president. Uh, good morning, everyone. I was born in 1963, in the Year of the Rabbit. I've spent 27 years in the US and 26 years in China. People always guess I am in my 40s, but I'm actually 53. Why is that? Because I have passion. I have determination to do things well. "A major shake-up of the company's senior management team, with company President John Gauthier and Vice President Dave Burrows leaving." Actually... terminated. ...We wish you a Merry Christmas We wish you a Merry Christmas And a Happy New Year We wish you a Merry Christmas... - Got one. - Got one? All right, boss. Need a hat, Jim? - Right here. I'll take it. - All right. - That's good, brother. - Merry Christmas to you. Merry Christmas to you. Thanks for your work. Hello, everybody! I would like to use this opportunity to thank each of you for the hard work. And also, we need to work as a team under one roof, one culture, and make a great year for 2017. We can turn the company around. We make more money, and everybody gonna share the piece of pie. How's that? Not bad. You want a hat, Chairman? He asked if you want a hat. Of course. Here you go, boss. Let me wear a hat. Hi. - Ni hao. - Ni hao, ni hao, ni hao. - Hello. - Ni hao. Ni hao. Someone from work was kind enough to tell me that there were these apartments. Four hundred and eighty dollars a month. I fell in love with it. I can afford to live here and have my own place and feel independent again. Mmm. Smells good. This is the most enjoyable moment in a day. After I finish the cigarette, my mind just calms down. We workers lay down tracks so the train can run smoothly. The only thing we have in mind is to do our best. That's true for everyone here. My wife. My toothache has gone. I've fully recovered. The last time I cried, I was a teenager. But I cried once after coming here. I don't dare mention that to other people. But when all is quiet in the dead of night, I miss my family. I've learned most of what I learned from Leon and Wong. None of us knew glass when we came there. When you get to be my age, not too many people wanna hire you. They don't wanna take a chance. My brother, he's my Chinese brother. I would have his back, just like I'd have one of my own brothers'. I just... I think the world of him. Are you okay? My supervisor started yelling at me. - When... You work at the table right there. - I was working right here just fine. - Now he wanna change it right over here. - We know, the table over there. Now, instead of here, they want you to do it here? Okay. He said he expects us to do eight boxes at a time. I just want to make sure you're not gonna get hurt. He said he want us to push them in here. Well, now, you... It's probably too heavy for you to push it. - So you need to let him know that. - I don't understand. Sometimes, why she don't know to tell that? Make sure you're communicating to them that you need help. I have. He knows. Rather than trying to find resolution, they try to find out who's wrong. And, in this case, they're both wrong. You need some skills to handle Americans. How can we take advantage of American characteristics to make them work for Fuyao? There's a culture in the US where children are showered with encouragement. So everyone who grows up in the US is overconfident. They are super confident. Americans love being flattered to death. You will get into trouble if you fight with them. "Donkeys like being touched in the direction their hair grows." Right? You should touch donkeys in the direction their hair grows. Otherwise, they'll kick you. Do you understand what I'm saying? You do? Okay. We need to use our wisdom to guide them and help them. Because we are better than them. They refer to us as "the foreigners." People just want... They wanna feel like they're in America working, not like, when they walk in the door, that they've left America and they're now in China. They work nonstop. They're in there all the time. Around the clock, 24 hours a day. They're in there on Sundays. There's been some days, they don't want us to take a break for lunch, because they need X amount of glass out. The Chinese really don't help us out at all. They just walk around and tell the Americans what to do. "Just do this." And you're like, "Why?" They don't tell you why at all, and they walk away. I know it's a growing company, I know it's new. But with the workload that comes with it, you know, you wanna keep your employees around, especially your good workers. A simple pay raise, even if it's just a dollar. Just show your appreciation for them and their hard work. Optimism, hope. That was what we were all going in with. The future looked bright. Now, it's just... It's a 180. To me, it's like they don't respect you. At least 3,000 people have come and gone, either fired or quit. Whenever you have a frustrating day, you can go outside and... throw your bin over. Every one of our bosses were demoted. - Yeah. - The Chinese are in control. Have the Chinese changed their mind? Are they not gonna turn this over to us? Because that was one of the... definitely that was one of the things that intrigued me about coming here. I love the fact that they came in here. I love this business. I worked at Appleton for over 20 years and I was one of the guys that got laid off in 2012. I've been looking for something for four years. I like working with the people on the floor. They are working their tails off. And they're not getting anything for it, and I'm not talking about compensation. They're not getting patted on the back. I've seen the Chinese pouring chemicals down the drain - out the back of our dock. - Mm-hmm. Chemicals. There was a trail of yellow paint going right to the sewer. - Right out our back door. - You couldn't miss it. It... It's like they don't even know what the rules are. It's... And I'm thinking, "This is all going into the sewer and going into drinking water somewhere." I don't wanna waste your time and I don't wanna to waste my time. With what we say at this table, will it make a difference? I've asked security to come escort you out if you're going to do that. Okay. Man, they treat these people like shit in there. Sometimes, you gotta be Sally Field. If there are things your boss can't fix for you, come talk to me. Especially how to manage American workers. Can we force them to work overtime? - Americans? - Americans. From HR's perspective, we can't force them to work overtime. We can't say anything like that. But in China, it's mandatory. The Americans... I don't give a shit what they think. Go ahead and sue me, but they should come the hell in on Saturdays. That's how I would do it. I think the most important thing is mutual understanding. We're under enormous pressure here. A lot more pressure than in China. There was a guy who couldn't fall asleep for a couple of days. I really admire Americans. They can work two jobs. They can have another job besides working here. I always thought Americans lived a comfortable and superior life. I thought they didn't have to make any sacrifices. Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. All the stories that you've heard about Fuyao is true. Just to give you an idea how things are, my daughter does nails for a living. Last year, she made $13,000 more than I did. Now, think about that. She cleared $40,000. I made 27. Something's wrong with that. A coworker of mine was fired for being hospitalized for a week and not calling off. That could've been me. What if I got sick? Would they fire me? The man I was working with, the cardboard he was sitting on caught on fire. And they just kept right on working. Dayton taxpayers and the state of Ohio have committed tens of millions of dollars to Fuyao, and yet Fuyao management has failed to provide the good and the safe jobs that this community deserves. Labor. Working people and the labor movement built America. It is what made America great the first time. The working people at Fuyao right now who don't have a... You have a birthright that's paid for by the sweat and blood of people in this room and people who have gone before people in this room, so that you had a right to fair life, to a workplace that was safe. We fought these battles 70 years ago. We rejected 70 years ago that management and companies and rich people get to pick and choose what happens to you or what you get or what you don't get. Nothing in America has changed in terms of working people working hard. That's not what changed in America. What changed in America was people at the top deciding they wanted to rewrite the rules to take advantage of people. To make it in their favor at your expense. And you have a right and an obligation to say no to that, and that's what unionizing at Fuyao is all about. And over the course of fighting for this all these years, we found a way for companies to make money and still be fair to employees, and still pay employees a decent wage, and still make sure that they were safe. These two things can exist together. As you fight this fight at Fuyao, as UAW stands by you and fights that fight with you, as we show Fuyao that we do things a little bit different in Dayton, Ohio, I will be there every step of the way fighting with you, on the side of UAW, on the side of workers, and we will win this fight. Thank you. - Morning. - Morning. Next Monday... everybody already employed in this room, whatever you're paid today, two dollars more. Thank you. Everybody, whatever you make today, two dollars more next Monday. Yeah! Great? And the people say, "Why are you doing that? We're losing money." The good efficiency generate from the good employee. How do we keep a good employee? Better pay. We want to be the best employer in this town. But in return... work hard, work longer. Our team here, we can do the same job as China. Raise the bar, and I believe the future will belong to everybody. Thanks again. Victory! Whoo! - We are the union! - We are the union! - UAW! - UAW! They don't want to have to abide by the rules and regulations of the United States. They're in America, and we want to make sure that they abide by the laws in America. We can bring to birth a new world From the ashes of the old For the union makes us strong Solidarity forever Solidarity forever Solidarity forever 'Cause the union makes us strong Solidarity forever... We have a better chance of having things done fair if we have it written out in a contract. That's why we need a union. Management would listen to us because they had to. Every job I've ever worked on, being a black woman, that's the only way that we have a chance. I understand that, at times, there's gonna be a need for a union, but right now, I got a man that's given me a good job, given me a good wage, and allowed me to come to work every day. I don't have any need for somebody else to come in and get in the middle of this. The only thing the union's gonna do is keep the bad workers. And the good workers, it's just gonna go along like it is for us. How's that work for me? I know there are some union activists here. I know because I have people who spy for me. I have many different ways to deal with them. Here is one. He is pro-union. This is him. This person here. Look, we get along pretty well. You won't see him here in two weeks' time. Good afternoon. I want to thank you so much for coming. I know you didn't have a choice. The union will go out of their way to try to convince you that it's a good thing for you and that it is in your best interest. The contract that you get, if you get one, might include better wages and benefits. That contract might include the same wages and benefits you have today. And that contract finally might include less wages and less benefits. And the threat of a strike is no longer scary to employers, because today if you go on strike, while you can't get fired, the employer has the right to permanently replace you. I'll let that sink in. You can't get fired for going on strike, but you can get permanently replaced. So are you telling us not to vote for the union? I'm here to tell you to do what you want. I got a question. Who do you work for? I work for a company called Labor Relations Institute. We're a labor consulting firm. - Is the company paying you? - Yes. Didn't I say that? I usually say that in every meeting. - No. - No, you didn't say that yet. Well, the reality is, they pay me to consult with you here... They pay you to talk to us? They pay me. They don't pay me enough to stand up here and lie to you. Okay? He says that he was being impartial, but he wasn't. The UAW is free to use everywhere else in the world. If they want to pay our... pay our workforce to sit through a presentation, to listen to the pitch, that's their right. But while they're on our clock, it's our message. They spent a lot of money to bring these people in here to make sure that every employee goes through this session, not once, but twice, maybe three times. They have people walking around there with patches and stickers on that's saying: "Vote no. You still have a voice." Now, my question to them people are: What voice do you have? When have you ever had a voice? Ever since they started this job, it's been a two-man job. When they put me out here on it, they decided they wanted it to be a one-person job. When I went to talk to HR, I told them they were targeting me. Put me on a job to set me up to write me up for performance issues and fire me. I got the phone call from Fuyao that they had fired me. I really truly feel like... that they targeted me. I was on the news, I was at the city council meetings. It's been a pretty sad... few days. This sinking feeling of... "I don't have a job." I mean, I'm a good worker. Workers union! Should I have gotten so involved? Put my whole life into it? Here's old Fuyao. Can't spell Fuyao without F-U. When I was at Fuyao, I didn't think we needed a union. Move forward to today, you have no voice, you have... Truly, you... From what I'm told, there really isn't an American with authority that they can talk to. You know, I... I think these employees need something. I think I need to make only two more trips this year, if you achieve what you planned. Why do I need to come here? It's not convenient for me. Right? You think I like to come to America every month? It's tiring. Is the union making any noise? No, not too much. Better than it was before. Recently, we fired a lot of union supporters. We have tried different ways. It's worked out. - Uh... - A lot of active ones left... Then you guys should hire more excellent people. Young people. This is the culture I want for our company. - Mmm. - Then we will have a good atmosphere here. Mmm. A lot of things here in the US are different from China. Well, we've invested here already. It's just not working that well. - Ah? - Mmm. Morning, y'all. - Fired up, ready to vote. - Ready to win! - Ready to vote. - Ready to win. - Ready to win! - There you go. - You ready to win. - All right, girl! Fired up, ready to win! These are actually people from the United Auto Workers Union, and they're out here demonstrating, trying to encourageFuyao employees to vote "yes." Fuyao released a statement earlier saying that they believe the United Workers Union is corrupted and they hope that the workers vote "no." More than 1,500 workers are expected... We all have a psychological shadow. Fuyao doesn't want to be controlled by the union. As the Chinese saying goes, "One mountain cannot hold two tigers." Voting just ended an hour ago. Now the National Labor Relations Board is counting those votes inside the plant with both Fuyao and UAW watching... Yes! We won by a landslide. We won 60%? Right. We're awesome! 868 noes, 444 yes. Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't shocked... because I know the... the young people got scared. Them LRI people scared the shit out of 'em, that's all. Before we started having those trainings, I felt like there was a big "yes" vote. They spoke a lot about a strike, and like, not being able to be paid, unless we... You know. So, I feel like people, you know, are worried about their income. 'Cause I definitely was, you know? So... There you have it. Overwhelming no. Good morning, everyone. Morning. Last night I couldn't sleep because I feel... even more heavier burden on my shoulder. You guys gave me a chance to make FGA better. My goal is gonna work with the team to make sure every single issue I cannot resolve overnight, but give me some time. Can we do this? Yeah? All right, one more thing: life is short. We're gonna select the best ten employees go to China. There's some pictures. This is Shanghai. Shanghai is the most modern city in China. Look like Manhattan, right? It's like a Manhattan too. Yeah, this is a Hyatt Hotel. Hyatt Hotel. They have a sky pool, 55 floor. You swim in the sky. And I'm gonna share the good news for you. One of you lucky guys, you're gonna see that city. We're one Fuyao, one family. We create the miracle. We need to create success forever. Let's make American great again. The smooth operation of our US project has laid a solid foundation for our global strategy. We've achieved double-digit growth in operation management. Both our earnings and profits have reached new digits. The China of my youth was poor and undeveloped. I feel I was happier then. Now I live in a new era of prosperity and modernity, but I have a sense of loss. I miss the croaking frogs and chirping bugs of my childhood. The wild flowers blooming in the field. In the past few decades, I have built so many factories. Have I taken the peace away and destroyed the environment? I don't know if I am a contributor or a sinner. But... I only think that way when I'm unhappy. The point of living is to work. Don't you think so? Last Friday, I was terminated from Fuyao after two and a half years. Uh... The excuse given was I was too slow pulling up something on the computer. Took me about two or three minutes. It wasn't quick enough. I wouldn't take away the last two and a half years. I met a lot of good friends and I learned a lot from the Chinese. I don't have any food for you. I have some watermelon in my apartment. I don't think he can eat fruit. He can eat grass. - Take care, guys. - See you later. - Bye, Wong. - Bye-bye. In the old days, all Chinese people wanted in life was to have enough food and to raise their kids. That's all they wanted. When it comes to my generation, we want it all. We travel wherever we want and buy whatever we like. GM afforded me a great life... that was cut off when they closed the doors. We will never ever make that type of money again. Those days are over. There you go! All right! - Hey! - Yay! Well, I didn't even know. You never give up on the American dream. To me, that would be un-American. I can have that white fence. I can have that nice home. Send my children to college if that's what they want to do. Get treated with common decency. You have to be able to believe in it. We used to have one person here. Now we don't have anyone. Next, I'm going to get rid of four workers here. Two for each line. Automation means standardization. After we finish this, we will have two fewer workers uploading on the encapsulation line. The mechanical arms do that instead. You have already finished that? Yes. These are all automatic. And you're replacing the rest with mechanical arms too? Yes. I will replace the ones on side-window tempering. This one is being tested now. We're hoping to cancel four workers in July or August. I'll change that into machine work. We can't get the work done now. They are too slow. |
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