![Jobs to Move America members and supporters protest Dec. 1 outside the Los Angeles headquarters of BYD Motors, Inc., located at 1800 S. Figueroa Street. [Photo courtesy: Jobs to Move America]](https://www.theavtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Jobs-to-Move-America-protest-BYD.jpg)
On Tuesday, Dec. 1, Jobs to Move America protested outside the Los Angeles headquarters of BYD Motors, Inc., a Chinese electric bus company, to denounce the failure of BYD to create promised living wage jobs for local residents in exchange for over $39 million in city and state tax dollars.
Public agencies have awarded BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, over $39 million in public money and tax credits since 2010, with the promise that it would create electric buses, good jobs, and economic opportunity for low-income Angelenos.
Since that time, BYD has broken its promises to taxpayers and workers with its lack of accountability. Wage issues, health and safety concerns, and information that buses are actually being made in China call for public officials to examine each contract to hold BYD accountable.
Exactly what public funds did BYD receive from Los Angeles, California, and LA Metro?
- A $1.6 million grant from the City of Los Angeles in 2010 to build BYD’s headquarters in the U.S. by refurbishing a downtown LA office; creating 58 full-time jobs by August 2015, 51% of which would be Los Angeles residents, and targeting 24 jobs low-income persons.
- A $4.2 million subsidy package from the Los Angeles City Council in 2010 to create real economic development and good jobs.
- A $20.7 million contract with the Los Angeles Metro Transportation Authority in 2013 to buy five zero-emission buses, with the option to purchase up to 20 more, with a provision about creating local jobs.
- A $3 million tax credit from the State of California in 2014 to expand BYD’s operations in Los Angeles and Lancaster and increase its workforce to 625 by 2018.
View relevant public documents and contracts regarding BYD at http://jobstomoveamerica.org/byd/.
After being awarded multi-millions in public funds, BYD faced criticism for breaking its promises.
First, there was confusion on how to pay its workers in U.S. dollars, which drew widespread attention to how BYD treats both its U.S. and Chinese national workers. In 2014, CA labor officials ordered BYD to pay nearly $38,000 in penalties after a hearing officer found that BYD failed to provide workers with proper rest periods or itemized paychecks.
Most recently, BYD workers have told Jobs to Move America that the company has been paying its workers at or just above minimum wage, without access to affordable benefits. Workers have also shared information about health and safety problems in the Lancaster electric bus factory.
These allegations increase concerns that BYD has not been creating good U.S. jobs according to its contract timeline, potentially violating its agreements with public agencies including the City of Los Angeles, State of California, and LA Metro. Despite BYD’s contracts and the promises the company has made, the outcome has been poverty jobs with complaints of serious worker health and safety problems.
Additionally, the BYD contract with LA Metro, obtained through a public records act request, shows that BYD and LA Metro made a deal after a contract was finalized, changing the terms. BYD originally proposed to create assembly, maintenance, and operations jobs in Los Angeles and Lancaster. LA Metro subsequently gave this job plan high marks. However, after LA Metro approved the contract, BYD reversed its commitment to create U.S. jobs and insisted that to keep the negotiated price, the buses needed to be made in BYD’s facility in Changsha, China. Public tax dollars that were designated to create jobs in the U.S. were then directed to China. Tax dollars were awarded to BYD to build buses in Los Angeles and create local jobs; yet the buses were made in China.
“We demand accountability. We want our money back,” says Madeline Janis, Director of Jobs to Move America. “Our organization represents taxpaying organizations and individuals from the Los Angeles region. BYD is a company built by American tax dollars and its promise is to create good jobs in the U.S., and we must hold BYD accountable to its promise to create good jobs.”
The protest outside of BYD’s headquarters in Los Angeles called on public agencies to scrutinize each contract made with BYD in order to review whether BYD is keeping its promises, including compliance with the City’s Living Wage Ordinance.
Speakers from the Jobs to Move America Coalition included: Madeline Janis of Jobs to Move America, Chloe Osmer (Organizer at AFL-CIO), Manuel Gonzalez (Organizer at SMART, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers), Gabriella Landeros (Press Secretary at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor), and Rev. William Smart (President and CEO at Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California).
Following the event, a delegation delivered a letter to BYD management. [Read it here.]
“On this sacred day, the 60th anniversary of when Rosa Parks sat down and refused to get up, ironically, from a bus, we are here today saying that BYD workers deserve respect and good jobs,” says Rev. William Smart, President and CEO at Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California.
See a story from the Los Angeles Times published Dec. 1 at http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-wage-promise-20151201-story.html.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The AV Times.
Editor’s note: BYD has two manufacturing facilities in Lancaster – an electric bus manufacturing facility and an Iron-Phosphate energy module (large scale battery) manufacturing facility.
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troll hunter says
5 buses for $20.7M? $4.1 million each…I suppose they’re outfitted quite well for that price. WiFi heated/cooled leather seats, nav systems, etc.?
Going “green” sure has a price, a hefty one…I can only imagine that there’s some kind of skimming or kickback scheme in this “arrangement”.
America First says
This is a massive taxpayer funded subsidy that benefits no one except the Communist Chinese owned BYD. It will hardly make a dent in lowering emissions. At the cost of these busses, many more hybrid busses could be built by American owned companies with a more widespread impact.
Not to mention the fact that this allows the Communist Chinese to set up shop right next to our nation’s most sensitive defense projects.
They probably have plans to make a statue of Rex in Bejing. They’ve been trying to steal our military secrets for years and now Rex has given them front row seats.
Benedict Parris.
Tim Scott says
How does a manufacturing facility that is mostly staffed with Americans qualify as “setting up shop” for espionage? I mean, it isn’t like there was some sort of anti-China barrier strung along the ridge line of the San Gabriels. If the Chinese wanted to post some folks in the Antelope Valley I doubt that their only chance revolved around a bus factory.
William says
It’s code name is ‘Ralph Kramden’.
America First says
Have you worked for any of the defense contractors? If not you may wish to ask one what precautions they must go through dealing with espionage. The San Gabriel Valley is a long way from the AV. The opportunity for espionage with people working and living with and next to these sensitive areas is what’s problematic. Google Chinese espionage sometime.
Tim Scott says
First off, the San Gabriel Valley has nothing to do with what I said. Now, back to what I said.
How exactly does this bus factory full of primarily American workers make any difference? If there was a desire on the part of the Chinese government to have people living and working next to these sensitive areas there are certainly easy enough ways to accomplish that without a bus factory.
America First says
I disagree with your assessment Tim Scott. Having family and friends in positions of varying degrees of responsibility and involvement, a bus factory, or any other factory/business in a community where thousands of people work on sensitive projects is pure gold to those who wish to steal information. There will be plenty of Chinese workers here in addition to the American workers. This is a coup for the Communist Chinese espionage program.
Tim Scott says
I still don’t see the need for a bus factory. There were already plenty of Chinese restaurants. There were also plenty of EoE jobs in retail, construction, whatever. I don’t see how this bus factory breaks down any barrier, because I don’t see that there was one. There were plenty of opportunities for a Chinese agent to live and work among us before the bus factory came along.
Point of fact, if I were a Chinese spy in the Antelope Valley I would be steering as well clear of a Chinese owned bus factory as i could manage.
America First says
The bus factory just makes it easier. I tend to agree with much of what you say, but after many discussions with people in most branches of the armed services including special ops, FBI personnel, and aerospace security, I reach a very different conclusion based on their experience, training, and knowledge.
Tim Scott says
Maybe. Or maybe the people you’ve talked to are just as prone to knee jerk reactions as anyone else. I mean, at first glance “OMG it’s a Chinese bus factory right next to us!” seems to make sense. But when you look at it, there is a Chinese restaurant right down the street so does a bus factory really change anything?
But, we’ll never really know, unless someone actually catches a spy or something. Anyway, good talk.
M says
King Rex was trying to get them to come here to have their babies a few years ago.
Ryan says
Greed in the acquisition of promisary notes is not that uncommon, being that we are, upon receiving a social security number, owned by United States of America, Inc. Those American corporations that manufacture overseas ought to be ashamed of themselves. The minimum wage needs to be at Ieast $15.00 as soon as possible to keep up with the inflation scam, no more taxing equal compensation for labor. It was meant to be taxation of profits.
Maria says
BYD stands for ” BRING YOUR DAUGHTER”
This is about Chinese business investors bringing their daughters here to marry to gain citizenship and JOBS much in the medical, science and technology area. Bus is the abbreviation for BUSINESS. This also refers to the ” anchor baby” situation where housing, hospitals , all benefit as well as business in transportation, drugs and human/sex trafficking. If I write anymore, THIS TIDBIT OF INFO may not even get posted…..
dumbandblind says
If they are unable to pay their own workers in China you think they can pay people here
http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-factories-closing-20160108-story.html
Son of the Anti Rex says
dumbandblind, don’t you know that california labor laws are complicated? that’s what rex says. it is hard to figure out that you have to pay a minimum wage and you shouldn’t be playing stupid games like safety bingo.
keep the communist chinese in china please.
Working Man says
Maybe Safety Bingo is something that Chinese companies do in China. Their labor laws are very different.
Scott Burch says
Something that needs to be remembered here….. tax breaks are NOT money given, but money NOT TAKEN…
Another thing to be noted, it takes tax breaks to get business to come because the taxes are too high to begin with…. if we took a reall look at corporate tax and made it the lowest not the highest in the world, maybe we would have more jobs here…. but as long as you want to punish business, then expect no jobs…
Tim Scott says
This demonstrates some knowledge. What is commonly called “just enough to be dangerous,” but still better than the absolute zero one gets accustomed to seeing.
No one is “punishing business.” Taxes are the way the public (ie our representative government) motivates and directs the market. Our environment is the most desirable for business, therefore we can make businesses pay to operate here. And they do…paying to do so.
To “give them a break” that they don’t really need would involve making up those losses from somewhere. I’m sure that you aren’t volunteering, so do you have a suggestion as to where? Or do we go with the fantasy of “cut the tax and we won’t miss the income at all”?
Commie Fighter says
The Communist Chinese government got their break when our brilliant mayor gave them front row seats to Edwards Air Force Base and Air Force Plant 42 with its defense contractors. The Communist Chinese have been committing espionage for years and now our mayor has made it even easier for them. He is not stopping with this company either. The dunderhead is trying to bring more. The Communist Chinese could not have a better friend.
William says
And, of course, the profits will be shared with the employees as productivity continues to rise.
Y’see. Wages haven’t kept up with productivity gains since Reagan. I wonder how and why that happened. Don’t you?
Michael Rives says
I have gotten up at practically every city council meeting for the past six years and spoken on an average of 5 times a meeting. I research the agenda and try to have a rational discussion with the Lancaster City Council on what they are doing. I opposed BYD from the very beginning. It has been and is a bad deal for our city. We need to focus on improving our community (streets and getting vacant stores filled) before we embark on things like solar farms and outfits like BYD that are promoted by Mr. Parris.
RayRay says
Thank you for giving back to our city. The sad truth is that Rex doesn’t give a crap about what you or anyone else has to say. He will ram his agenda down our throats come hell or high water. It’s been mostly hell for us. Crime on the rise, money squandered on a useless spy plane, back room deals, outrageous lawsuits, and all the other nonsense. Keep on fighting for us.
Doc Rivers says
Where could our very own job killer Cathy McKlaren from the Palmdale water District and local IBEW be? She used environmental impacts to stop the new factory in
Palmdale costing a bunch of jobs constructing to build it. The million dollar question is why isn’t she helping these poor workers? They only play when they are told to and Rex has told her hands off. Union hypocrisy at its finest!!!
Palmdalian says
Sounds like Rex controls McKlaren too. People in Palmdale need to wake up. Rex is not our friend.
Tony says
I’m shocked our Ambulance Chasing Mayor Rex is not suing BYD. I guess it’s double standard. It’s ok for those Chinese firms that he courted to break the law. He only likes to sue us American companies and municipalities – Palmdale, Santa Clarita, city of Highland, state of Californua, Lancaster school district, to list a few. I guess we keep him fat and rich to keep his beach houses that he doesn’t need to sue the Chinese.
Earl S. says
What Tony said. Exactly what Tony said. The truth.
Swamper says
Mayor Parris is too busy getting plaintiffs in Porter Ranch class action against SoCalSoCal Gas to care about his own city. He is a POS and will be exposed in an upcoming book. Can’t wait for the release.
Anon says
What book is this? Someone needs to expose Parris and the Fern St. Mafia. The dollars made by the good old boys is no bid contracts, all the land deals, LEAPS, illegal purchases of building, and general disregard for the residents to satisfy the lust for money by Rex and Co. makes Bell look like a church bake sale.
Swamper says
The book is amazing and is titled “No Felon Left Behind” . The author is the one and only Michelle Egberts who brought him and others down to their knees in her trials. As former campers of hers we stand proud.
As Mayor Parris is a board member of the Gerry Spence Trial School it will be well publicized and then some!
Anon says
When will this book be available? I would love to read it. Parris is as bad as they get.
Michelle Egberts says
@Swamper… It was nice meeting you and the rest of your crew at your fire camp and having the opportunity not only to share the post-conviction opportunities ahead of your crew once they walk out of those gates as many paved the way for your success through Legislation.
My book tells it all as you all have read how a former offender asked for help from the City, only to be falsely accused from a Mayor and law enforcement in order to bury me in prison to shut me up. NOT!!! Two trials, not guilty verdicts without accepting their plea bargains. If you’re not guilty of a crime, stand up for your rights and take it to trial.
Book release date is March 19th.
Tim Scott says
Who is going to read this book? In the AV most people have at least a general sense of the situation, and outside the AV no one is going to really care.
William says
The real mystery is why tens of thousands of Lancaster citizens simply put up with rex and his corruption?
If you bought a new home in Lancaster in the last dozen years only to realize that there’s no shopping other than Walmart and thrift stores, wouldn’t you be at every council meeting raising heck?
The silence of the voters is deafening. The only thing I can think of that explains it is that maybe newer residents don’t make any distinction between the 2 cities and it’s just as easy to drive to Palmdale to shop as it is to drive from one side of Lancaster to the other.
The 2 cities are spread out more east and west than north and south, so if you live around 60th West in Lancaster, driving to the Antelope Valley Mall is no more trouble than to the blvd.
Any other clues as to the silence?
Tim Scott says
Until city government actually hits them in the face most people don’t even know it exists. When it does hit them in the face their knowledge base about city governments is so limited that they have trouble recognizing that it isn’t normal.
Michelle Egberts says
@Tim Scott… maybe you need to educate yourself and the employers who are violating the law since you seem to know all when it comes to former offenders… lawsuits are coming.
Tim Scott says
I meant no offense to you. I do think that selling a “city government corruption in Lancaster Ca” book outside of Lancaster Ca is a tough sell, but I wish you the best.
Michelle Egberts says
My first printing is already sold out across the country. It’s interesting that my Re-Entry Task Force Initiative in 2010 was just passed by the LA Board of Supervisors this month.
Tim Scott says
Congratulations!
BYD Employee says
It’s because his Wife Is a BYD Vice President of the U.S. Region.
Johnny Logic says
Lets call this for what it really is… a union smear campaign to pressure an employer to negate protections afforded to all employees for an “intimidation-free” process to unionize (or not) ** by secret ballot.
All that JMA cares about is increasing union membership — while trampling the rights of workers in order to expedite a union organization.
What Jobs to Move America (JMA) is advocating (a “card check”) was struck DOWN in a 1947 congressional NLRA act — to coerce companies for private employee data and an on-the-job-site, neutrality-agreement, with an open-public vote/ “Card Check” where employees would be pressured at work or even *** AT THEIR HOMES (because the Union now knows your home addresses) to “sign-up”. And all the nay-sayers are then under public and union member scrutiny until they “join”. A card check and open vote is a process of intimidation and that is Why Congress explicitly removed it as an approved process.
We have to ask, if the NLRA was enacted to protect employees and NOT employers, then WHY does JMA want to circumvent it? and the rights of employees to a secret ballot in order to organize?
The answer is because a secret ballot allows the chance of NOT organizing while protecting the employees privacy. It also may take longer to form a union this way, but it is the proper way.
If the JMA truly cared about workers, they would care about their constitionally protected rights.
Bingo says
Now the L.A. Times is reporting that a game called ‘Safety Bingo’ was played to encourage workers not to report accidents. The link to the article and the mention of ‘Safety Bingo’ is below.
What the hell is going on in Lancaster?
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-byd-dispute-20151201-story.html
“Eight workers at the Lancaster plant, who declined to be quoted by name because they feared they would lose their jobs, earlier told The Times they had complaints about working conditions. For instance, the employees alleged that work such as sanding down fiberglass was done in areas exposed to other laborers without adequate protection.
Workers also complained that the company had recently instituted a process called “safety bingo” that allowed workers to win a growing pot of money if no accidents were reported, a pot that dropped down to a smaller sum if someone reported an accident. Such a practice “creates a situation where employees harass workers not to turn in issues,” said James W. White Jr., director of organizing for the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers union.