Capital Moves

5 Pages 1371 Words

Capital Moves

Capital Moves by Jefferson Cowie is a short version of a long journey that the Radio Corporation of America took through North America on a 70 year quest for cheap labor. On this journey, the company moved every time a problem arisen, and in the end, encountered the same behaviors over and over throughout North America. Starting in Camden, New Jersey and traveling through Bloomington, Memphis, and Mexico, the company was able to learn about the people, and the people learned the ways of “big business.”
In 1926, RCA became one of the largest companies in America. The radio technology company began in Camden, New Jersey. It was there that it grew from a narrowcasting communication, to a broadcast. This is because it produced the National Broadcasting Company, also known as NBC.(13) RCA was joined together as a company with owners from General Electric, Westinghouse, AT&T and United Fruit, along with many other small portion owners.(13) Work in Camden was very efficient and non-confrontational for the employers at first. After time, the workers were upset with their wages for the amount of work that they were putting in. The employees began to strike and form unions. RCA did not want to deal with the stress accompanying those actions, so they up and moved to Bloomington, Indiana.
RCA was in Bloomington for the duration of 28 years. They began work there in 1940 while leaving in 1968. RCA’s reason for moving to Bloomington was the people’s desperation to work.(42) The desperation of the people was produced by the Shower Brother’s Furniture Company shutting down along with the downfall of the lime stone industry, and the land could not produce crops anymore.(44) Although many layoffs and farmers without land occupied much of the surrounding area, RCA was looking for females to fill many of the roles at the plant. “…recruits had to have a high school education and they had to be between the ag...