GM strike is example of how US labour unions are killing manufacturing, says ‘American Factory’ boss

Cao Dewang, the Chinese owner of the Ohio car glass factory featured in the documentary film American Factory, said the western labour union system is no longer fit for the development of manufacturing and that the system in the United States is the main driver behind the demise of made in America products.

The 73-year-old Chinese entrepreneur said that he would rather close down his factory in Dayton, Ohio, than allow a labour union to run it, reiterating his stance voiced in the documentary that stirred debate about the future of manufacturing as well as the differences between Chinese and US work culture and values.

The documentary, which focused on Cao’s Fuyao Group purchasing a closed General Motors factory and infusing it with Chinese style management, was produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s film company, Higher Ground Productions, and premiered on Netflix last month.

“The labour union system in Europe and the US is no longer fit for the development of manufacturing. It’s safe to say that the demise of US manufacturing was caused by this [labour union system],” according to the transcript of Cao‘s comments published by the Beijing News, a newspaper under the Beijing municipal government, on Monday. “I won’t accept such a system. In the case of General Motors – it suffers losses every year because of troubles caused by labour unions – it is a very painful thing. The loss of morale can be worse than the financial losses.”

Cao’s comments were published at the same time that the United Auto Workers (UAW) union called a strike of its 49,000 members at General Motors plants in the US that started Sunday morning. It is first national strike organised by the union since 2007 after contract negotiations with the carmaker broke down.