Tuesday, June 20, 2006

No, Whirlpool Will Not Provide Jobs in Benton Harbor

National Public Radio: "200 jobs are coming to Benton Harbor."
This is the biggest lie there is. Believe me, past history shows us that the last thing Whirlpool will do for Benton Harbor residents is provide jobs. Years ago, Whirlpool outsourced most of our jobs for cheap labor. People were not a part of their considerations. At all. The only real news about jobs is that the city of Benton Harbor just laid off 13 employees. Here is a report from Sandy in Chicago:

Saturday, June 17, 2006
NPR had a 3 1/2 minute radio piece on Benton Harbor today saying 200 jobs and hundreds of homes are coming into Benton Harbor and the city is getting back on its feet with downtown art galleries opening and events, etc. A Whirlpool representative was on saying that that employers left because of the workforce - BH workers don't have the confidence and skills for the jobs! Also, that 300 homes are being built. They had a poor resident on the program saying she's getting one of them. (This sounds similar to a Chicago program that opened a few homes in a condo project to the poor.) They also mentioned that 1/2 of homes are boarded up and many still don't have hope that things will change. You can listen at
http://wkar.org/morningedition/story.php?storyid=945 . Tony in Washington sent us this information; he suggested that someone do a letter to morning edition about it. It aired on the NPR affiliate stations.

Also:
http://www.wndu.com/news/062006/news_50553.php announced that up to 13 Benton Harbor city employees could be laid off later this month..commissioners approved a $7.6 million budget for the next fiscal year, which is about $500,000 less than last year. The city manager blames it on cuts in state revenue and the expiration of the city's enterprise zone. He says the layoffs will be across the board.

http://www.wndu.com/news/052006/news_49938.php announces that 400 jobs are coming to BH from Whirlpool.

Sincerely,
Rev. Edward Pinkney
269-925-0001
banco9342@sbcglobal.net
bhbanco.blogspot.com
BANCO, 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022
(legal fees being accepted and very much needed for my Sept. 19 trial)