The story of Janesville: When the factory closed, there was no shelter everywhere.

Janesville: American writer Amy Goldstein wrote an American story. Amy Goldstein has been a contributing writer in Washington post for more than 30 years. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism in 2002 and the Financial Times-McKinsey Best Business Book Award. She is also a researcher at the Niemann Press Foundation of Harvard University and Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies.

There are several states in the United States with the town of Janesville (California, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin), of which Janesville, Wisconsin is the largest. Janesville is located at the junction of Wisconsin and Illinois, and Rock County is here. Janesville is located on the road from Chicago to Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, along Interstate 90 which runs through the east and west coastlines of the United States. According to Wikipedia, Janesville is a trade center of grain, dairy products and tobacco, and also an industrial center. Industries include automobiles, pens, cotton textiles, wool textiles, organs, electronic instruments and insulating materials. According to the 20 10 census, the population of this city is about 63,000.

Janesville is located in the rust belt of America. The rust belt is mainly composed of the midwest and the Great Lakes. It started in western New York, crossed the Lower Peninsula of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, and ended in northern Illinois, eastern Iowa and southeastern Wisconsin. "Rust" (meaning "rust") refers to de-industrialization, or economic recession, population decline and urban recession caused by the shrinking of the once powerful industrial sector. This word became popular in America in the 1980s.

After the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008, Amy Goldstein began to pay attention to the unemployment problem in the United States and a particularly typical industrial town-Janesville. Before the financial crisis, most residents here worked in factories for a living, and the benefits and wages of factories were enough to support their family expenses.

Janesville was named after the immigrant Henry Jane. Before the American Civil War broke out, there were factories that produced farm tools. In 1870, the local commercial yellow pages listed 15 carriage manufacturer and a textile factory.

In the 20th century, the population of Janesville reached 6.5438+0.3 million, mostly descendants of immigrants from the East Coast or new immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Norway for decades. According to records: "In the city center, there are many factories on both sides of Franklin Street and River Street; Milwaukee Street and Main Street are dotted with shops and cafes, with an average of 250 people having a barber shop. In order to welcome families who have finished farm work and gone to the city for leisure, the shops are open until late at night on Saturday. The bridge connecting Milwaukee Street on both sides of the Rock River is still made of wood, but in the city center, trams running from south to north have replaced the old carriage service. Janesville is also a railway hub. Every day, 64 passenger trains and 8 freight trains frequently enter and leave the city. "

In the long manufacturing history of Janesville, there were two great entrepreneurs who were born and raised. The first one is George S parker, who used to be a salesman of the John Holland pen company. He designed and manufactured his own pen, and founded Parker Company on 1888.

Parker peninsula

Since the 1940s, Parker pen has become the first choice for heads of state to write. Hemingway wrote "The Old Man and the Sea" with Parker pen, Conan Doyle wrote "Sherlock Holmes" with Parker pen, the rich Henry signed the contract to buy the Empire State Building with Parker pen, Eisenhower signed the Covenant with Parker pen and the words signed by General MacArthur when he accepted the Japanese surrender, and Nixon's meeting gift to the chairman during his visit to China from 65438 to 0972 was also a special Parker gold pen for astronauts to retrieve soil from the moon.

1986, Parker Company was in a desperate situation and was difficult to maintain. 1987, the headquarters of Parker Company was moved to New Haven, East Sussex, England. 1993 Parker brand is owned by Gillette company, which sold the writing tools department to Novick Byrd in 2000.

At the beginning of 20 10, the last asset of Parker Pen Company was cleared, and the whole factory was moved to Mexico.

"Janesville: An American Story" records: "Linda's last working day-65438+1October15-has arrived. It's hard for Linda to accept-in fact, for many people in this city, the name of Parker Pen Company will soon become a fragment in the history of Janesville. "

"Before the factory closes, Linda and other colleagues in the inventory department need to box the extra pens and distribute them for free. They were sent to a factory in California, a loyal department store in new york, and several other places. Until a colleague in the inventory department asked the person in charge if he could leave some pens here and donate them to the food bank, ECHO, the Salvation Army and even the students in Janesville. "

"One of Linda's colleagues walked into the office of the top manager, suggesting that the ladies in the inventory department were the last employees working in Parker Pen Company. Shouldn't they get a sterling silver pen? On the last day, Linda and everyone else got a ballpoint pen. "

Aerial view of Janesville factory

The second is Joseph A Craig, who plans to introduce GM into Janesville and start producing tractors at the end of World War I.. Over the years, the factory has expanded to 4.8 million square feet, equivalent to 65,438+00 American football fields. In its heyday, the number of workers exceeded 7,000, creating thousands of jobs around it to produce accessories. Starting from 1923, GM produced Chevrolet cars in Janesville.

Amy goldstein wrote: "Janesville always seems to reverse adversity and avoid the historical low tide: during the Great Depression, the factory was closed for a time, but reopened a year later; During the sit-in strike, which had a great impact on American labor history, riots broke out among auto workers in other places, but Janesville remained calm. During World War II, this factory was the rear area of ammunition production. After the war, it resumed production and made more remarkable achievements. Even in the 1970s, the automobile industry began to decline, and the fate of other factories was rewritten one after another. Janesville's production line goes all the way. "

In fact, in the 1980s, Janesville rusted once: 1986, General Motors moved the production line of Janesville, 1200 people moved with the factory, and 1000 people lost their jobs. Fortunately, GM resumed production in Janesville the following year.

But in 2008, Janesville's luck ended.

On the evening of June 2, 2008, Paul Ryan (* * * and Republican, his home is in Janesville. Paul Ryan has been a congressman from Wisconsin's first district since 1999, a vice presidential candidate in 20 12, and a former speaker of the US House of Representatives. Resigned in 2008 due to bad relationship with Trump 20 1 1. ) He received a phone call from Wagner, CEO of General Motors, telling him that GM had held its annual general meeting in Delaware and decided to close the fourth one in North America.

Paul Ryan asked Wei Gena, "Doing so will ruin this place. You have the best workers here and this city is loyal to you. Why not close the factories in big cities? " Paul Ryan wants GM to switch to minivans in Janesville.

At 6: 30 the next morning, the local radio station broadcast the breaking news, but the assembly plant started production at 5: 48, and the morning shift workers didn't know about it. After 6: 30, the workers were called together and announced that the factory stopped production on 20 10.

Paul Ryan still hasn't given up saving Janesville. He built a strong rescue team, including Democratic governors, trade union leaders and business leaders, as well as local officials at the federal, state and county levels. The rescue team came to GM's headquarters on the 39th floor of Detroit River and was received by the company's North American president. After a long discussion, they only got a not too bad result: the other party didn't say it was the final decision.

However, in June of 5438+ 10, GM announced even worse news: it would close the 14 plant, reduce 2 10/0,000 jobs, and stop production at the Janesville plant before Christmas (two years ahead of schedule).

Since then, the government of Janesville has raised nearly $200 million, hoping to compete for the general small car market project, but the town of O 'Ryan, Michigan has thrown out $654.38+0 billion, which completely shattered Janesville's fantasy.

On February 23, 2008, at 65438, the last car in the Janesville factory rolled off the assembly line. It was a black Chevrolet tahoe, and more than 9,000 employees walked out of the assembly plant.

The final product was donated to United Way in Northern Rock County (the largest charity in the United States). As a reward, United Way raised $200,000. The winner is a retired worker who has worked in the Janesville factory for 37 years.

In 20 15, GM announced the permanent closure of the Janesville plant.

GM's Janesville plant was demolished.

In Janesville, which has a population of only 63,000,13 of the families are unemployed, more than half of the families have deteriorated their economic situation, half of them have difficulty in buying food, two-thirds of them have tense relationships, and most of the residents' houses have depreciated.

From ordinary workers to factory managers, from parents to children, from students to teachers, from businessmen to politicians, from convenience stores, cinemas, gas stations to real estate agents, all people and organizations are swallowed up by the huge whirlpool of unemployment.

GM-related workers have different choices-they are assigned to factories in other cities, or they move, or they spend several hours commuting between home and the new factory every weekend; Being bought out of service, leaving the factory, facing the reality of unemployment and medical insurance and other welfare interruptions. What's worse is those young people who have dreams, but the door suddenly closes in front of them. Those who retire smoothly are the luckiest. They can retire as described by their parents, but they still have to deal with the new difficulties of their children and grandchildren.

This is a whole set of recessions. When a factory that supports the urban economy is closed, other factories that cooperate with its production chain, male blue-collar workers and their families will fall down, which will spread to all aspects of urban life and eventually turn into a crisis in the city.

Some critics say: human beings naturally like to see things that are very far away from their lives, strange and full of excitement, and there is no real danger when they are satisfied and peeping; The gap between the life of industrial workers in Janesville makes Janesville's American target readers feel that life is like this! It feels almost over, satisfied and peeping. What should I do? It's like going to the cinema to watch the death of Iron Man. It's even better after crying, because everyone knows it's not true. Only in this way can the author provide readers with a unique taste and let them place an order to buy books. From this point, we can also see that whether it is "Janesville" or "Rust Belt", these things are far from the elite of the United States-both in substance and spirit. After all, how can elites not control their own lives and capital?

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.