AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

So, What's the Deal with Plastech?

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This week's big auto news, overshadowing the Chicago Auto Show, has been Chrysler'http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifs near brush with the possibility of meltdown thanks to a company named Plastech Engineered Products. The obscurity of the company suggested a trip to Wikipedia would be in order.

that Plastech Engineered Products is the largest women -owned business in the state of Michigan. It has 7,600 employees in 36 manufacturing facilities and two corporate offices in North America. Plastech started with a single plant in Caro, Michigan in 1988. Obviously, it has grown quickly since then to its current (until recently) annual sales level of $1.7 billion. This figure was helped in no small part four plants aquired from (or pawned off by) Johnson Controls in 2007 with a combined sales level of $700 million per year.

, Chrysler CEO Robert (aka "Dean Bob") Nardelli told reporters at the Chicago Auto Show that Chrysler was ending its relationship with Plastech because Plastech tried to raise its prices. What? A plastics company raising its prices the cost of oil skyrockets?

Right now there is an interim deal between Plastech and Chrysler to keep the supply of key components up until February 15th. One would assume that Chrysler would not have attempted to recover its tooling without a substitute supplier lined up. It would be easy to paint Plastech CEO Julie Brown as the villian, threatening the stability of Chrysler and its thousands of jobs. On the other hand, you could think of her as being a champion of American manufacturing, fighting a rear-guard action, defending 7,600 jobs (many unionized) against the forces of globalization.

Plastech CEO Julie Brown has certainly led a very diverse life. Not only does she have an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, and a Masters in Engineering, and run a maor corporation, since the 1980's she's maintained separate identities in the entertainment industry. As "West Coast" Julie Brown, she was the comic genius behind Earth Girls are Easy and Everybody Run, the Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun. As "Downtown" Julie Brown, she was an MTV VJ, and has popped up in countless cameos and hosting roles. Here's an excuse to post a link to the Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun