Kucinich Calls for Immelt Ouster
August 30, 2011
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Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich is calling on the White House to remove General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt from his post as head of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
Kucinich says that since Immelt took the helm at GE, he has eliminated one-fifth of the company’s U.S. workforce to locations overseas. “He has expertise in job creation, but unfortunately for the United States, he seems to be creating jobs in other countries,” said Kucinich. “If he does not resign, the White House should remove him.”
President Obama created the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, amid a record unemployment rate, to explore ways to fix the U.S. jobs deficit. Immelt was asked to lead the council despite his record of having eliminated thousands of American jobs by closing GE plants in the U.S. and shifting production to China. Just earlier this year, the CEO inked multi-billion dollar deals for 50 GE power plants in China, as well as a joint venture that would place GE’s most sophisticated cockpit avionics in the hands of a country that is poised to compete directly with U.S. aerospace manufacturers.
Rep. Kucinich says Immelt has done more harm than good. “American taxpayers subsidized the development of this advanced technology, but U.S. taxpayers’ investment will end up creating jobs in China,” said Kucinich. “In the short term, GE is selling products to the Chinese, which will help GE’s bottom line. In the long term, the Chinese will end up manufacturing and selling products using the same technologies that were made in America.
