Will Honda Leave Ohio Over Divestment Bill Targeting Companies Doing Business With Iran?
Maybe talk like this caused the Ohio Retirement Study Council to quickly remove the original "nasty companies" (my terminology) list from its website in relation to divestment. I doubt if Honda would "remove" its plants BUT, I have a strong hunch that they won't open any new plants in Ohio after they appeared on the "nasty companies" list. If you want a copy of that rapidly disappearing list from the Ohio Retirement Study Council website which mentioned Honda's 17,000 plus jobs that Ohioans now enjoy... please email me and I'll see that you get that list which also included Rolls-Royce (who is - or now I probably should say "was" considering a new facility in northern Ohio. John Curry [curryjo@watchtv.net]
6/19/2007
http://www.opinionbug.com/?p=2038
Will Honda Leave Ohio Over Divestment Bill Targeting Companies Doing Business With Iran?
By Tim June 19, 2007
Will Honda Motor Corp. leave Ohio over a divestment bill sponsored by Rep. Josh Mandel that targets companies doing business with Iran? Apparently, some fear the Japanese automaker might do just that rather than pull out of Iran.
From Christopher Holton at the Center for Security Policy:
Center for Security Policy—Josh filed a bill in the current legislative session in Ohio to end that state’s investments in foreign companies doing business in and with Iran.
Then came the revelation that Honda has close business ties to Iran.
Honda has a large plant in Ohio. Whispers suddenly began to be heard that should that legislation be passed, Ohioans would lose their jobs.
In other words, Honda values its relationship with the Ayatollahs who are killing Americans more than it values its employees in Ohio. This after news earlier this year that Daimler-Chrysler, which had made a sizable investment in Iran just within the last five years, was pulling itself out of that country. …
And from the Enquirer:
Enquirer—Honda, which employs 16,000 people in Ohio, has not taken a position on the bill, said Jeffrey Smith, assistant vice president for corporate affairs at Honda America. Japan-based Honda Motor Co. has a minority stake in Tizro Manufacturing Co., which assembles motorcycles in Iran. …
Finally, from Neil King Jr. at the Wall Street Journal:
Wall Street Journal—Rallying their forces, the funds emailed “action alerts” to thousands of the state’s 1.3 million current and retired state employees, alleging that the bill could gut their retirement and health-care accounts and urging them to call their local representatives. “A delayed response may be devastating,” read one alert sent out in May by the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System.
An even louder outcry arose from Ohio’s industrial belt. The bill, which roped in companies with even small engagements with Iran, affected not only Honda, but DaimlerChrysler AG, Bridgestone Corp., Siemens and ThyssenKrupp AG, all of which have factories in Ohio. The pension funds estimated that the targeted companies employed more than 45,000 workers in the state.
One of the first critics to pull Mr. Mandel aside was Rep. Matt Szollosi, a freshman Democrat. His message: The bill would chill the investment climate in Ohio, a state already hard hit by the loss of manufacturing jobs. “I told him straight out that DaimlerChrysler has a new Jeep plant that straddles my district,” Mr. Szollosi recalls. “They’ve invested up to $2.5 billion in that plant… . The bill as introduced would have had a devastating impact on Ohio from an economic-development standpoint.”
6/19/2007
http://www.opinionbug.com/?p=2038
Will Honda Leave Ohio Over Divestment Bill Targeting Companies Doing Business With Iran?
By Tim June 19, 2007
Will Honda Motor Corp. leave Ohio over a divestment bill sponsored by Rep. Josh Mandel that targets companies doing business with Iran? Apparently, some fear the Japanese automaker might do just that rather than pull out of Iran.
From Christopher Holton at the Center for Security Policy:
Center for Security Policy—Josh filed a bill in the current legislative session in Ohio to end that state’s investments in foreign companies doing business in and with Iran.
Then came the revelation that Honda has close business ties to Iran.
Honda has a large plant in Ohio. Whispers suddenly began to be heard that should that legislation be passed, Ohioans would lose their jobs.
In other words, Honda values its relationship with the Ayatollahs who are killing Americans more than it values its employees in Ohio. This after news earlier this year that Daimler-Chrysler, which had made a sizable investment in Iran just within the last five years, was pulling itself out of that country. …
And from the Enquirer:
Enquirer—Honda, which employs 16,000 people in Ohio, has not taken a position on the bill, said Jeffrey Smith, assistant vice president for corporate affairs at Honda America. Japan-based Honda Motor Co. has a minority stake in Tizro Manufacturing Co., which assembles motorcycles in Iran. …
Finally, from Neil King Jr. at the Wall Street Journal:
Wall Street Journal—Rallying their forces, the funds emailed “action alerts” to thousands of the state’s 1.3 million current and retired state employees, alleging that the bill could gut their retirement and health-care accounts and urging them to call their local representatives. “A delayed response may be devastating,” read one alert sent out in May by the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System.
An even louder outcry arose from Ohio’s industrial belt. The bill, which roped in companies with even small engagements with Iran, affected not only Honda, but DaimlerChrysler AG, Bridgestone Corp., Siemens and ThyssenKrupp AG, all of which have factories in Ohio. The pension funds estimated that the targeted companies employed more than 45,000 workers in the state.
One of the first critics to pull Mr. Mandel aside was Rep. Matt Szollosi, a freshman Democrat. His message: The bill would chill the investment climate in Ohio, a state already hard hit by the loss of manufacturing jobs. “I told him straight out that DaimlerChrysler has a new Jeep plant that straddles my district,” Mr. Szollosi recalls. “They’ve invested up to $2.5 billion in that plant… . The bill as introduced would have had a devastating impact on Ohio from an economic-development standpoint.”
posted by Kathie Bracy at 11:44 PM
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