News of DHL's plan to outsource jobs at the Wilmington-based air park has reached all the way to the White House. Now a U.S. senator from Ohio is seeking help from the Oval Office to keep the jobs here.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has asked for the White House to appoint a senior administration official to help save the jobs at DHL in Wilmington.
At a roundtable discussion Monday afternoon at the Kelly Center on the Wilmington College campus, Brown said he has talked to President George W. Bush's chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, concerning DHL's plan to outsource. "I spoke with President Bush's chief of staff last week asking him to designate one person specifically in the White House - a senior administration official - to coordinate any kind of response in terms of saving these 8,000 or 9,000 jobs," he said.
Brown said he has also asked for the White House to help expedite "a bipartisan, bicameral request for a Department of Justice antitrust review."
In addition, Brown said he discussed possible federal uses of the Wilmington facility in the event that the DHL-UPS deal goes through.
Seated around the roundtable with Brown were U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, Wilmington Mayor David Raizk, Clinton County Commissioner Randy Riley, Clinton County Administrator Mark Brooker, Highland County Commissioner Mike Rector, Clinton Memorial Hospital Administrator and CEO Andy Riddell, Wilmington City School Business manager Curt Bone and several pilots, a mechanic and other employees from DHL, ABX and ASTAR.
"I want southwest Ohio families to have the most up-to-date information and the chance to share their stories," said Brown. "Wilmington has been a good home for DHL. Area leaders have worked tirelessly to ensure the company has the full support of the community. Ohio families have helped build the business."
Brown pointed out that he and the rest of the Ohio delegation in Washington, D.C., have sent letters to Deutsche Post World Net, the U.S. Attorney General, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany and the German Ambassador to the U.S.
Mayor Raizk reiterated that retention of jobs is still the number one goal, but should DHL pull out of the air park, he said new opportunities are being looked at as well. Raizk also thanked Brown and U.S. Representative Mike Turner for their efforts to keep DHL at the air park.
Turner stressed that government officials are working together on the DHL issue. "One of the things I think is most important is that we are working together as a team - from the state, federal, local level, the governor's office, the mayor's office, the senator's office."
Turner said there are a number of issues to pursue. He said the antitrust issue should be looked at as a step transaction. "If this transaction (DHL/UPS deal) goes forward, we would have in the southwest Ohio region - the Emory facility abandoned at the Dayton airport, the DHL facility abandoned at the Cincinnati airport and this former Airborne/DHL facility abandoned here. In all it would be in southwest Ohio, over 10,000 jobs that will have ultimately been consolidated down in the UPS facility in Louisville (Kentucky). We look at this as a step transaction," Turner said.
Brown led the discussion and gave everyone around the table - as well as people in the audience - an opportunity to tell their story about the devastating losses they are facing.
Should 8,000 to 10,000 jobs be lost in the community, CommissionerRiley said you're probably looking at 15,000 children that would be directly affected by this. "The needs in the community are going to double and triple. Not just the folks that work at DHL and ABX, a dry cleaner in town is expecting to lose half of his business if this happens. I doubt if he will be able to stay in business. The trickle-down effect on the community will be devastating. For our number one employer to pull up roots, it's more than devastating."
Riley continued, "If we knew exactly what was going to happen, it would be a lot easier to try to come up with some decision-making. I agree with the mayor, our number one priority is still to get DHL to reconsider. If they're not going to reconsider, it would be nice to have some firm information."
Bruce McKee of Wilmington, who has been a 24-year employee of ABX, said he is not going away without a fight. "I've watched some of my friends with Emory who came to Airborne after UPS bought them and closed them down. My gut tells me this is Custer's last stand. America's going to go down if we do not try to fight here. I think there are too many avenues they have not gone down, they have not looked at."
McKee made an impassioned plea for everyone to make their voice heard and not just sit back and not take a stand. Afterwards he received an ovation from the audience.
"I have never been on welfare," McKee said. "I've got five kids, two in college. I'm telling you, I don't want a hand-me-down. I want a job to be able to go to."
In closing, he said, "Maybe we made it too easy for them when they shut down Emory and put all of those people out of jobs. If somebody doesn't stand up to corporate America, we're all doomed."
SIDEBAR
While hoping that DHL officials will decide on their own to stay in Wilmington, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown said officials also are looking at other means to keep them here and if they have to play ""hardball," to keep them here, they will.
Brown said antitrust hearings cannot be held until a contract is actually signed. "We also are looking at the Open Skies Initiative, which is negotiations between Europeans and the U.S. officials on air space, which concerns the flights in and out of other countries. Deutsch Post, we believe, and other Europeans want access to America's skies and we will do whatever it takes to play hardball and whatever we need to do on that issue."
He said contracts are also being checked into. "We're looking at contracts Deutsch Post has with the U.S. Government - whether it's Homeland Security or Department of Defense or anything else - once we have all the information we need with those contracts we'll do what we have to do there, too."
Reader Comments Posted: Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Article comment by:
Tim Frazier
I applaud Sen Brown and US Rep Turner for their direct input into the current DHL mess. Cudos also to Bruce McKee as his attitude is exactly what all of America whould be having right now. In the global economy where some industries & countries "cheat" the system in the name if profits we cannot win if the playing rules do not change. Pushing those changes begins with each of us working Americans demandining accounting from our elected officials. NAFTA and trade with China has certainly not helped Ohio.
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