Bo McCurry, his wife Donna and coworker Jerry Pryor left Sparta on Sunday on a special mission.  Headed to Washington, D.C. at the invitation of the American Rights at Work Awards Celebration, McCurry and Pryor prepared to tell the story of the closing Philips Lighting plant in Sparta. 

The gala 7th Annual event was star-studded, featuring actor James Cromwell, United Streetcar and SOULcial Justice.   And Sparta's own Bo McCurry, President of the IBEW 2143 at Philips Lighting, was at the center of the action. 

Held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in D.C., Kimberly Freeman Brown, executive director of American Rights at Work said, "Our aim is to show the Wisconsin teacher and the Washington machinist that they are not alone."

The Awards Celebration opened with what organizers called "a stark juxtaposition of the difference between socially irresponsible and responsible businesses."

Bo McCurry, an employee of a Philips plant in Sparta, Tenn., shared with the audience a heart-rending account "from the front lines of the war on America’s workers." according to organizers.

McCurry’s plant was repeatedly honored as productive and effective, yet Philips is closing the plant and is outsourcing those jobs to Mexico.

In contrast, Oregon’s United Streetcar was held up as an example for other businesses to emulate. According to the organization, "a labor-management partnership with the IBEW and the Ironworkers United Streetcar revived the clean-energy industry in the United States."

Receiving the award on behalf of the company, United Streetcar President Chandra Brown told the audience that she was representing not just the company on stage, but “the welders, the machinists, the electricians, and all the men and women building these machines.”

Sandy Carpenter, an organizer for UFCW, presented actor and activist James Cromwell with his award.  Cromwell delivered a stirring speech that had the audience inspired and energized.

For Bo McCurry, his wife Donna and Jerry Pryor, this event was "an opportunity to tell our story and keep trying to save our profitable plant in Sparta."   Absent his trademark baseball cap, McCurry looked more the part of business manager than union leader, but when he gave his heartfelt speech, the audience responded with a standing ovation. 

McCurry's speech is included here in its entirety:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Bo McCurry and if someone had told me a year ago that I’d be standing in D.C. making a speech I would have had a good laugh.   I never expected to come up from Sparta, Tennessee to talk in front of you…but there have been a lot of things that have happened in the past year that I never would have expected.

I want to give you a question to think about today.  Why would a company close its best performing operation in the U.S.?   The answer is not about performance.  It’s not about being competitive.  It’s about being one piece in a larger puzzle --- it’s about being caught up in the wrong kind of movement.   It’s about the fact that, in America, we’ve not been paying attention to what’s happening to our jobs. 

We hear story after story about plants closing and shake our heads and say “what a shame” as if it is something that we cannot do anything about.   That’s not the truth.   The truth – at least for Sparta, Tennessee – is that we’re learning that it’s about much more than being competitive. 

You see, we believed that if we had the best cost and quality and deliveries --- that if we reduced the labor costs down to 2 or 3% of a total product’s cost --- that we would win the battle to keep our Philips Lighting plant in Sparta.   We did all of those things.  And we were willing to do more.  But it didn’t matter. 

I’m here today on behalf of a group of people who are losing their jobs in Sparta, Tennessee ….but more than that, I’m here today on behalf of every family in America --- every community and economy that is suffering for the same reason that we are ---- a European-owned company is abusing our trade laws and taking our jobs.    

I want to speak today to every person who has ever considered holding a share of Philips stock, bought a Philips light bulb or installed a Philips light fixture --- because you’re not going to like what they’re doing with your money.  What they’re doing is not good for America, for Sparta, for me and my family….but it’s not even good for the company and stockholders, in the long run.

The Philips Lighting plant in Sparta understands what it means to compete globally.  We’ve fought for that right since 1963.  We’ve been survivors, because every time someone told us we needed to do better – we did it.  We used automation and lowered the labor cost per light fixture to pennies on the dollar.   We improved our deliveries so that they were five times better than anyone else’s.  We produced the best quality of any lighting plant anywhere.  

We did all of that with less inventory and less waste while creating the happiest customers in the business.  We won awards ---- Industry Week magazine recognized us three years in a row --- first as a top twenty plant in 2008 and 2009 and then as one of the top ten best plants in all of North America just last year.   And our own company, Philips, gave us trophies as the Philips best plant and Lean Manufacturing Champion just days before telling us they were going to close us. 

Our plant is not closing because we can’t compete globally.  They are closing the best plant in the U.S. because they plan to close the rest of the plants in the U.S. and they need our business relocated to Mexico just so that they can pay the rent while they move almost everything else. 

We’ve won awards for our plant culture --- for the way that we have worked with management and for our level of employee engagement.   Our employee engagement scores --- the scores that the corporation uses to measure how much we care about our work, trust the company and take pride in what we do – have been used as an example for others.   People have always told us that we feel like a family – and we are.    My wife and I have over 40 years together in that plant.   The people in Sparta were willing to do anything it took to keep that business alive.  But we weren’t given that opportunity or choice.   

We care about that work --- and they can’t turn that off by making a decision to close us.

To our folks, it’s not just a plant that they’re closing --- it’s a family that they’re killing….a community that they are hurting….and for no reason that makes any sense to a stockholder or customer. 

They could have given us a number --- told us we needed to get better.  But they told us it was not about our performance.  And, clearly, it was NOT about our performance.  We wanted to buy it and put together a great business case to do it.  Bankers and our own community of Sparta put up millions of dollars because it made good business sense to keep our work right where it is.    We know that it is profitable right where it sits --- it’s better for the customers, it’s better for the stockholders and it’s better for every person in our town.   

But we were told no.  We weren’t given an opportunity to improve it and the company chose to take on an extremely expensive and risky move rather than take our offer because the closure of our plant is one part of a bigger strategy.    Philips buys a company and then consolidates all of their manufacturing in one part of a continent….in our case, Mexico…. That’s their business model.   And it is one that they need to re-think. 

America – we’ve got to pay attention here.   There is a reason that the Euro has been doing so well while the dollar has not.    There is a reason that we have more people dealing cards in casinos than running lathes in this country.   We’ve been asleep at the wheel while other countries have bought up all of our factories and then taken our globally competitive business and put it in other places.   They pocket all of the profits – we let them do that – but now, we don’t even have an opportunity to make a living by making that money for them.

Did you know that our legislature passed a law that makes it illegal to buy incandescent light bulbs?   And did you know that they just moved one of the last fluorescent lamp factories out of Danville, Kentucky?   So…. According to our own laws…we can’t legally buy a Philips light bulb that is made in this country.  

There’s a lot wrong with this picture.   

We’ve got to think about our trade laws and what we’re doing to protect our interests here.    If we’re going to have a future at all, we’ve got to tell our children that making things in this country is important.   Show me an economy around the world that survives by answering the phone and providing medical services?   We need manufacturing jobs.   We’ve earned our place in the global competition and we’re willing to keep improving and keep competing…  but when we do that and then have it yanked from us…well that’s just a kick in the head.

So here’s where we have to help our legislators see what’s happening.  Don’t let Philips tell you that this decision was a good business decision.    It’s not a good decision for their stockholders and it’s not a good decision for us in the U.S.   It’s just the way they’ve gotten used to doing business.  And it’s got to change. 

Philips is not the only company working this way – that much is clear.   We’ve sold almost all of our businesses in this country --- we don’t own our power companies, our newspapers, our cars, gas stations, cell phones, hotels, restaurants…   And, in selling those companies, we’ve said that it’s alright for them to keep the profits.   But now we’re giving away all of our jobs too.   We’re not even part of the equation any more, except to go to Wal-mart or Sam’s, where we stand under lights we did not have an opportunity to make and buy something that was made in another town, in another country. 

Stories about closing plants don’t get much news any more.   But this story really should.   It doesn’t matter how you vote politically – this story should make you swallow hard and sweat a little. 

They’re closing a profitable plant in Sparta, Tennessee for reasons that make no sense.   And if we’re losing Sparta….we have no hope of keeping anything in this country.   

Folks, I’m not a rocket scientist but I can see that we can’t pay for our schools and roads and hospitals by dealing at casinos and answering customer service calls.   

Can we do anything about it?  Yes we can.   We can start by challenging decisions like this and drafting some legislation that puts us back into the formula for success.   

A couple of generations ago, our forefathers went overseas to fight when Europe was threatened and in desperate need.    We fought for their right to pursue capitalism –we spilled blood on their soil so that they could be free to build global businesses and strong economies.   Now the recipient of that sacrifice is the very source of the threat.   We’re in a war again.  But this time, it’s about jobs and this time, we’re the ones in desperate need.   Who’s fighting for us?    Yesterday was father’s day and I’m wondering about how my grandfather would feel about his sacrifice in Europe today?   I’m wondering how our forefathers would feel about what we’re letting happen in this country?   

The word respect literally means “to look – again” --- we need to look again at this picture.   We are profitable.  We are competitive.  We are lean.  And we are still losing the business.  Let’s ask  Philips and other companies like them to show us some respect --- and look again at what they’re doing to this country.   And let’s respect ourselves enough to take another look at our legislation.   Let’s respect our future enough to care about what we buy and where it was made.   

Let’s decide today that we’re going to change this.   Let’s decide today and let’s do something.