John Paulson, a hedge fund billionaire and one of Donald Trump's earliest Wall Street backers, is planning to offshore an Ohio manufacturing plant to China, despite heavy pushback from employees. As reported by The Guardian, this move has sparked outrage among workers, who feel betrayed by Paulson's decision, given his vocal support for domestic manufacturing.
Workers at the plant, which is owned by Conn Selmer, the largest US manufacturer of brass and orchestra instruments, call the move “a slap in our face”. The company has informed the union that it plans to offshore most work at its Eastlake, Ohio, plant to China by the end of June 2026, eliminating 150 jobs. United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2359, which represents the 150 employees, is fighting to keep the plant open.
According to Robert Hines, president of UAW Local 2359 and an employee at the plant, workers were informed of the closing when they first sat down to bargain over their new union contract last month. “We came in with a full proposal, fully prepared to bargain, and they started off with a presentation of telling us how bad we were doing,” Hines said. The company told them there would be no bargaining and the plant would be closing.
Workers say offshoring is an attack on the union, citing rhetoric that the plant has not been productive despite previous praise from company management. Union workers also point out that Conn Selmer opened a facility in China last year and gradually shifted their workload to that plant, though workers were told the new facility would not affect workload in Ohio.
Paulson's Contradictory Statements
Paulson, who made a significant portion of his wealth by betting against the housing market that crashed in 2008, has publicly criticized offshoring. In an interview with CNBC in September 2024, he said, “We can’t have American producers closing American factories and offshoring. We need to protect American jobs and protect American manufacturing.” However, his decision to offshore the Ohio plant has sparked criticism from workers, who feel that his actions contradict his words.
Hines said offshoring the brass plant would be deeply offensive to workers after Paulson painted himself as an advocate for domestic manufacturing. “To go publicly on CNBC to support the Trump administration’s positive views on tariffs and all that stuff, and then you turn around and [say you] want to go send the work right over to China,” Hines said. “It’s a slap in our face.”
The union intends to keep fighting, with Hines noting that he hopes Trump steps in to stop the decision. “This decision can still be reversed,” he said. In early February, the union held a rally in Eastlake, Ohio, as part of efforts to save the plant from closing.
Community Impact
Workers are especially worried about the impact the plant’s closure will have on the community. “It’s going to take a lot of money out of Eastlake,” Hines said. “We’ve had people come out [and] show love to try to keep the place open, and the company just isn’t open to it. They’re not answering or returning anyone’s calls.”
A spokesperson for Conn Selmer did not comment on the criticisms from the union, though the company confirmed that if the “tentative decision is finalized”, it will transfer some instrument production offshore. The company said the plant’s closure “will improve our competitiveness and better meet today’s market demands”. However, workers remain skeptical, and the union continues to fight to keep the plant open.
