Plot

In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a factory in an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.

In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.—Production

In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a factory in an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America. Dec 23, 2008, a GM plant in Dayton Ohio closes down. 10,000 jobs are lost. Chinese factories are highly automated, as is illustrated in a video of a glass making factory in China. In 2010, China started the ramp up of investments in US, buying shuttered US factories and re-opening them.

Fuyao buys the GM plant in 2015. Fuyao is a Chinese firm that manufactures glass. Within 6 months, 1000 employees are hired, and equipment is brought in to start operations. There is a large Chinese worker presence in the factory. They are given special classes to understand the American culture. The Chairman Cao of the Fuyao group arrives for a formal opening ceremony on Oct 7th, 2016. Rebecca is the Fuyao attorney in US. Dave is the VP of the Fuyao factory in Dayton, Ohio. There is a lot of PR, like naming a street after Fuyao. Everybody is told that the future is bright. Fuyao factory is a poster child for Chinese investments in America.

Chinese supervisors tell the Chairman that the Americans are slow, with fat fingers. But customers like Chrysler are satisfied with the products. Chairman orders the direction of the main door on the factory to align with Feng Shui. That costs $35,000. He supports local artworks to be installed in office but has very specific demands on office ambiance that run contrary to local laws. Leon is the Lead Chinese Supervisor. Boddy is the US furnace off-loader. He was unemployed for 18 months. He is thankful for the job at Fuyan. Shawnea is a glass inspector. She made $29/hr with GM and $12.84/hour with Fuyan. She has had to make cutbacks to support her family.

Jill is a forklift operator, who lost her house after the GM plant closed. She lives with her sister now. The factory has many stoppages when there are defects in the output, as it is hard to figure out what is wrong due to the language barrier. Wong is the Chinese furnace engineer at the factory. He has been working at Fuyao for 20 yrs. As he doesn't have time for lunch, he only eats Twinkies. Rob is the furnace supervisor.

John is the President of the Fuyao plant. The plant does not support union activity, which makes media headlines. The office is redesigned as per the Chairman's specifications. Fuyao has invested $500 M in the plant. Oct 7th comes around for the grand formal opening ceremony. The local senator Sherrod Brown makes a speech about how the workers can vote to form a union. Dave feels that comment was totally out of place. The Chairman doesn't comment publicly, but to his management team he is clear. They don't want any union developing at the plant. Unions will hurt the efficiency of the plant and lead to losses for Fuyao. If union comes in, the plant shuts down. John is told clearly that his job is on the line.

Chinese are focused on making glass at the same costs in US, as they do in China. Soon, glass starts shattering all over the plant. Meanwhile safety procedures are not being followed to speed up production. workers are standing less than 6 ft away from glass at 400 degrees F. Chairman Cao comes back and tells his Chinese staff that the goals for the factory have not been met. He asks his Chinese staff to work harder. He travels by private jet. He concludes that US workers are unmanageable. He asks his US managers Dave, John and the rest to visit the Fuyao factory in Fujiyan province. A workshop is helping to brainstorm on how the US factory can be made profitable. They see how the Chinese factory is run. workers are young, disciplined and fast. They only get 1-2 days off every month and work 12-hour shifts. Chinese believe US workers are just lazy, as they only work 8 hrs a day and have 8 days a month off. They joke around on the job.

Chinese workers keep their kids in their hometowns with their grandparents and only visit them once or twice a yr. They work without any safety equipment. Shimeng is Chairman of the Fuyao workers union in China. he is the Chairman's brother-in-law. The Union supports the view of the management. The US managers see how China factories are run like one big, giant family. The Managers return to America and its a completely different vibe there. Workers are irate about the microwave ovens not working and their lunch space being converted into a production area. They don't like watching Chinese videos in the factory all day along. The managers implement their new ideas, but the workers are not at all enthused. The workers are very concerned about their safety, something that was totally missing in China. Accidents start to rise at the plant.

11 safety complaints are filed against Fuyao. The Unionization effort gathers pace. Chairman Cao returns to US. He believes that the high paid US managers of the factory are not loyal to company and are not protecting the company's interests. They are hostile to the Chinese. John & Dave are both fired. John is replaced with a Chinese President, Jeff. In 2016, the plant loses $ 40 M. US workers live in apartments costing $480/month and call it cheap. Chinese workers stay in studio apartments, far cheaper, and often 4 workers in the same apartment. They stay away from their families and are under great stress, but don't share it with anyone.

When Chinese supervisors ask US workers to work harder, they break down. Jeff tells his Chinese supervisors to shower their US workers with encouragement and praise, to get them to work harder. The US workers feel that the Chinese only tell them what to do, and not the "why". At least 3000 people have been fired or they quit. Every US manager was demoted, and the Chinese are in control. Meanwhile the Chinese supervisors are frustrated that they can't ask their staff to do overtime or come in on weekends.

Fuyao workers start to unionize. Fuyao increases pay by $2/hour, but they want longer working hours in return. Fuyao workers decide to vote to form a union. Fuyao pays a Labor Relations Institute (LRI) Consultant (paid them $ 1 M) to share the facts around Unionization with the employees. The LRI tells US employees that strikes are not scary for employers, as while they can't fire laborers, they have the right to permanently replace them. Jeff fires many of the Union supporters. Chairman Cao tells Jeff to hire more young people. The vote takes place and workers vote no to unionization. Most people knew that union would mean shutting down of the plant. Fuyao invests in more and more automation and fires more US workers. Automation will require 375 M people globally to find new kinds of jobs. Fuyao became profitable from 2018 on-wards. Wages remained at $14/hour. They have 2200 US and 200 Chinese workers.