The Massachusetts Department of Transportation voted unanimously Wednesday to award a $566.6 million contract to the CNR MA Corporation, a venture of China CNR Corporation Limited and CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., to assemble 284 new cars for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Red and Orange Lines.
The company, which was the MBTA’s first choice, will construct an assembly facility in Springfield, bringing an estimated 250 new construction jobs to the area, Boston.com reported Wednesday.
“This is a critical investment in the future of public transportation in Greater Boston and in the economic wellbeing of Western Massachusetts,” Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said in a Wednesday statement. “It will open up opportunities for the residents of the Pioneer Valley by creating quality construction and manufacturing jobs that will propel growth in the region for years to come.”
All of this sounds good so far, but there’s a twist. The CNR MA Corporation is a Chinese government-owned mega corporation, and about 10 percent of the work will done in the company’s Chinese factory, The Boston Globe reported in a Tuesday article.
Now, China isn’t exactly known for its honorable labor practices. Generally, people know a large portion of the goods sitting on American shelves have been made in China. Stories are passed around about abused and underpaid Chinese factory laborers crafting American toys and goods, and consumers are encouraged to only buy American-made products. Thus, when the MBTA announced they wanted this Chinese government-owned corporation over an American manufacturer, people questioned whether or not it is ethical to outsource from a country with shaky labor regulations.
“With this company [CNR MA], bad labor practices should not be a concern,” said Min Ye, director of the East Asian Studies Program in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. “The problem with this company is that they are state owned. In terms of labor, state companies do not have the violations of labor centers. In contrast, the labor laws of this company are too generous. For instance, the managers have a very hard time letting anybody go. That’s the liability of a state-owned company.”
Although their labor practices are sound and have been vetted by the Massachusetts government, there is also the question of giving business to China. The United States and China are both world powers and two clear competitors in the world of business and trade.
According to Ye, CNR MA is one of the largest corporations in China, responsible for building a huge portion of China’s infrastructure. This work has allowed them to grow into a massive corporation with a lot of power in the country. Compared to their compensation from the massive construction work they’ve done in China, this contract in the United States won’t bring the corporation a lot of revenue, but it could provide a way into the U.S. economy.
“The company has a lot of ambition,” Ye said. “Will this particular contract benefit the company in a way that will hurt America’s interest? I think that’s a very remote outcome. But if you’re thinking that this contract will give the company an opportunity, so that in 10 years, it occupies a certain share of the infrastructure aggregate in the United States, that’s possible… They do want to see that happen. I don’t think there’s a way to prevent that, because America is an open market.
It may seem unpatriotic to allow this to happen. Even if the open labor market prevents anyone from discriminating against foreign bidders, it is regarded as “better” to employ American companies. Is it really necessary to bring business to China when America might be able to do the job just as well?
The MBTA also issued a contract in June to the corporation CAF USA, Inc. to build 24 new cars for the Green Line. Although American-owned and proudly sporting a “USA” in its name, the cars’ shells and frames will not be constructed in the United States, but in Spain. So much for “USA.”
Every country has its strengths and weaknesses, and the United States is no exception. One of China’s strengths is designing and manufacturing transportation devices. Sure, it might be possible to copy their methods, but why do that when we can simply hire them? Sometimes, outsourcing is the easiest and most efficient method, and judging by the complaints circling through the Red and Orange Line stations, the people of Boston want the trains improved.
It’s understandable that Americans would want to support an American company to benefit our own economy, but the truth is, the United States can’t do everything. Americans should put an emphasis on buying more American-made goods, but if CNR MA follows ethical labor practices and plans to employ American workers for an enormous portion of the job, there is nothing really unpatriotic about giving them the job.
