UAW Members At Conn-Selmer Host Rally For Community Support To Kee Jobs From Going to China

After Conn-Selmer formally announced its decision to offshore 150 good, union jobs to China at a long-time legacy Ohio company, workers rallied for community support to save the Eastlake plant from closure tentatively scheduled for June 30.

In January – on what was supposed to be day one of the latest contract negotiations between Conn-Selmer and UAW Local 2359 members – the last, USA-made brass instrument brand, informed workers that it is shutting down its Ohio facility and offshoring almost all its Eastlake operations overseas to China.

Decades of an Ohio mainstay and hundreds of good, union jobs suddenly became on the chopping block because billionaire hedge fund owner John Paulson decided to lead with corporate greed over preserving an American institution – and American manufacturing.

Conn-Selmer informed UAW Local 2359 members that its “doomsday” would tentatively be June 30, 2026 – but workers are fighting back to save the Eastlake plant. Alongside the broader community and local allies, workers rallied together last Thursday to send a message to Conn-Selmer’s leadership like Paulson: that they can still do the right thing and keep these jobs in Ohio.

Union ironworker and candidate for Ohio Congressional District 7 Brian Poindexter spoke to the community.

“This decision doesn’t just affect these 150 union workers, it affects their families, their vendors and destabilizes an entire local economy,” said Poindexter. “The company needs to negotiate with these UAW members, invest in these American workers or sell the company to someone who will.”