Maine New Balance workers join Susan Collins, Mike Michaud to argue for tariffs in DC

Source: Bangor Daily News

Shoemakers from Maine joined members of the state’s congressional delegation Wednesday on Capitol Hill to argue against dropping tariffs through a proposed trade agreement, charging that eliminating existing tariffs would hurt American manufacturers....

Workers from Boston-based New Balance’s plant in Norridgewock, Maine, joined with Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud and others to argue against dropping tariffs. According to the company, New Balance is the only athletic shoe firm that makes footwear in the United States. It has five factories in New England, including three in Maine in Norridgewock, Norway and Skowhegan, where they employ roughly 870 people.

“Trying to put faces to jobs is what we were trying to do,” said Raye Wentworth, plant manager at the Norridgewock facility, who has worked for New Balance for 29 years and was in Washington, D.C., with a number of her fellow workers Wednesday. “I feel we were successful. I think we got to some really good representatives that heard our story. I felt supported, I felt like they understood.

“It’s not just about the jobs, it’s about the communities, how devastating it would be if we ever were to have to close our doors.”


Read more: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/07/18/business/maine-new-balance-workers-join-collins-michaud-to-argue-for-tariffs-in-d-c/

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This article highlights some possible negative effects of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It also champions the power that some American workers may still have.