Last GE Light Bulb Plant to Close

Since Congress passed the law banning incandescent light bulbs, this news doesn’t come as a surprise, but it’s sad for the employees. The last GE plant making  the old fashioned light bulbs will close.

Washington Post: The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison’s innovations in the 1870s.

The remaining 200 workers at the plant here will lose their jobs.

“Now what’re we going to do?” said Toby Savolainen, 49, who like many others worked for decades at the factory, making bulbs now deemed wasteful.

During the recession, political and business leaders have held out the promise that American advances, particularly in green technology, might stem the decades-long decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. But as the lighting industry shows, even when the government pushes companies toward environmental innovations and Americans come up with them, the manufacture of the next generation technology can still end up overseas.

Nice, GE is shipping jobs overseas. Oh, you didn’t know? Those new and hazardous CFLs are going to be made in China. Great news for GE – cheap labor for a high priced product. For the American workers, the news isn’t so good.

The Democrats in Congress at the time passed the bill, and Republican President George W. Bush leapt across the aisle to sign it. Sigh.

Update: Republicans in Congress at the time overwhelming voted against the bill outlawing the regular light bulb.

Tags: closing, factory, GE, light bulb