American Factory (2019)
(Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, US 2019, 110 min., DCP)
In 2014, Chinese billionaire Cao Dewong opened a Fuyao auto glass manufacturing plant near Dayton, Ohio, six years after General Motors shuttered their plant there. For the local workforce, this represented a new opportunity for hope, to once again earn regular employment and security for their families. Humorous cultural differences quickly escalate to tensions between the Chinese and American workers, and between the new management and US labor laws. Filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert (Union Maids, The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant) take an even-handed look at the situation and the attempts at resolution of conflict.
Introduction and post-screening discussion by Dan Maloney, president of UAW Local 1097 and the Rochester Labor Council.