''American Jobs'' is a 2004

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

, documentary, written, produced and directed by Greg Spotts. The film is about the loss of American jobs to low-wage foreign competition, covering the phenomenon of

outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

in manufacturing and high-paying white-collar jobs. The

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

visited 19 cities and towns throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

interviewing recently laid-off workers, focusing on three industries: textiles, commercial aircraft and information technology. It also contains interviews with a number of members of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, including:

Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell Brown (; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Ohio, a seat which he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Ohio's ...

(D-Ohio),

Rosa DeLauro Rosa Luisa DeLauro (; born March 2, 1943) is an American politician who has been the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. The dist ...

(D-Connecticut),

Robin Hayes Robert Cannon "Robin" Hayes (born August 14, 1945) is an American politician and businessman from North Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, he represented North Carolina's 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1 ...

(R-North Carolina),

Donald Manzullo Donald Anthony Manzullo (born March 24, 1944) is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for , from 1993 to 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party. From 2001 to 2007 he served as Chairman of the Comm ...

(R-Illinois), and

Hilda Solis Hilda Lucia Solis (; born October 20, 1957) is an American politician and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 1st district. Solis previously served as the 25th United States Secretary of Labor from 2009 to 2013, as par ...

(D-California), and includes an extended section of clips from the 1993 congressional debate on

NAFTA The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...

. (North American Free Trade Agreement). Spotts self-released the film on DVD via a website on Labor Day, 2004. The CNN program ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' featured excerpts from ''American Jobs'' on seven consecutive weeknights in September 2004, exposure which attracted a distribution deal. The Disinformation Company, publisher of Robert Greenwald's series of documentary DVDs, released ''American Jobs'' on DVD in February 2005, along with a companion book penned by Spotts, ''CAFTA and Free Trade: What Every American Should Know''. The book was used as a lobbying tool by the AFL-CIO and members of the US Congress during the summer of 2005 when Congress was debating ratification of the

Central American Free Trade Agreement Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. Spotts subsequently wrote the official companion book to Robert Greenwald's 2005 documentary '' Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price''.

External links

American Jobs websiteGreg Spotts blog
*
Website for companion book to Greenwald's Wal-Mart documentary
American documentary films Offshoring Documentary films about globalization 2004 films Direct-to-video documentary films 2004 documentary films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{2000s-documentary-film-stub