Fuyao

In 2013, Fuyao began looking at establishing a factory presence in the United States, considering several sites in Ohio and Michigan before deciding on the former General Motors Moraine Assembly plant in Moraine, Ohio.[7] Its initial commitment to the factory, which was made public in January 2014, was to buy 1.4 million square feet of the plant from Industrial Realty Group and invest $240 million into an auto glass production facility, which would create 800 jobs.[7] In 2014, it bought a float glass plant in Mount Zion, Illinois. In 2016, it announced an additional $131 million investment to add additional after-market glass lines at the plant, bringing it to 24 production lines. In exchange it received $6.6 million in incentives from JobsOhio. By then, the company planned to produce enough auto glass for 4 million to 5 million automobiles a year,[8] taking advantage of contraction in the U.S. auto market during the Great Recession.[9] By the time the plant entered full-scale production in October 2016, the company had invested $1 billion in the U.S. subsidiary, with long-term plans to grow to 5,000 employees in the United States.[10] As of early 2020, Fuyao has opened additional operating facilities in Greenville, South Carolina and Detroit, Michigan.[11]

The plant saw some obstacles during the first two years of operation within the United States, including concerns about safety, inability to turn a profit, and politicizing employee concerns regarding the unionization of the Moraine Assembly plant's labor force. Additionally, conflicts arose from clashes in cultural norms and customs between the Chinese and American employees within the Moraine assembly.

Shortly after the Moraine Assembly officially opened, the facility was cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for several critical safety violations, including the failure to provide protective equipment, the lack of HAZMAT training, and the failure to properly cover moving machinery. The infractions violated the Occupational Safety and Health Act (United States) of 1970, which prevents employers from knowingly exposing employees to hazardous work conditions.[12] OSHA cited Fuyao for a total of thirteen different safety violations and fined the manufacturing firm approximately $725,000.[12] Subsequently, they were met with a $7 million investment by Fuyao towards improving safety features throughout the Moraine Assembly plant.[13] Additionally, Fuyao has since formed an environmental safety team within the Moraine assembly that provides in-depth training to the plant employees in both English and Mandarin Chinese.[13]

Since the majority of the labor force at Fuyao Glass America's Moraine Assembly plant had previously worked at the General Motors Moraine Assembly that was located on the same property, many workers wished to reform their connections with a major American labor union. A large portion of the plant's workforce organized and launched a campaign to form a union through the United Auto Workers, but company management promoted anti-union policies, hired anti-union organization contractors LRI to dissuade voters, and threatened union organizers with termination.[14] A vote was held on the grounds of the Moraine plant, with anti-union voters defeating pro-union voters by a margin of 886 to 441.[15][16][17]

Following management's victory, several prominent pro-union employees and plant executives began to face workplace repercussions ranging from losses in hours to termination. Three pro-union employees, who had been terminated for reasons considered questionable by American cultural workplace standards, filed cases with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the company, which settled the case in 2018 by agreeing to cover back pay and interest totaling $120,000.[18] Complaints made to the NLRB included allegations of unfair labor practices. In addition, The settlement referenced the cases of four former employees, with allegations that included terminating workers, interrogating, harassing, and disciplining employees, refusing to hire employees with prior union ties, and constant changing of the company's terms and conditions of employment.[18][19] The company was fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration with regard to the safety concerns and addressed the processes in question. In 2018, after losing tens of millions of dollars per year, the plant turned its first annual profit.

After the settlement was granted to the plaintiff employees, Fuyao Glass America President John Gauthier and Vice President Dave Burrows were terminated, with Fuyao's executive management citing the need to improve company efficiency.[20] Burrows and Gauthier filed suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that both executives were removed of both contract and employment without cause, prior notice, or explanation.[20] The suit also alleges that national origin was a defining factor that Fuyao considered when firing both corporate executives. As of 2020, Burrows has been replaced with Chinese national Sunny Yiqun Sun.

An Academy Award winning documentary about the plant, American Factory, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019, featuring themes of cultural conflict, production challenges and management opposition to unionization.[21]

• Ling, Zhu (2008), Building Wealth in China: 36 True Stories of Chinese Millionaires, New York City: Random House, Inc., ISBN 978-0-307-59162-3