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Sen. Bob Menendez, Bruce Raynor Work to Keep Good Jobs in the U.S.
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“We need to keep Americans out of the unemployment line and on the manufacturing line.”
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PERTH AMBOY, N.J. – On February 7, 2011, Sen. Bob Menendez and Workers United, SEIU President Bruce Raynor toured the Individualized Shirts plant to highlight the importance of extending the Wool and Pima Cotton Funds Act so that the plant – and others like it across the country – can continue to operate.
“We have to level the playing field for American manufacturers so that we can keep America working,” Raynor said. “We need to keep Americans out of the unemployment line and on the manufacturing line.”
Our country’s textile and apparel sectors have suffered the loss of tens of thousands of jobs over the last decade. Congress has acted to stem these job losses in part by enacting the Wool and Pima Cotton Trust Funds, which respond to tariff inversions – duties that are higher on imports of raw material than on finished products. The Funds create a level playing field for U.S. manufacturers. The Wool and Pima Cotton Funds have successfully curbed job losses, allowing domestic textile and apparel companies to expand their own export to compete in foreign markets.
The Wool and Pima Cotton Trust Funds Act expired in 2009. Today, foreign competitors import cotton shirts duty free, while U.S. companies like Individualized Shirts have to pay high duties on fabrics they import.
Extending the Wool and Pima Cotton Funds Act would help save the jobs of the more than 250 workers in Perth Amboy and more than 7000 textile and manufacturing workers across the country.
“American-made products help create and keep the jobs that we need to kick start the economy,” Raynor said. “It’s time for Congress to extend the Wool and Pima Cotton Funds Act so we can get America back to work.”
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