Is Fed Raid on Gibson Guitar Company Enforcing Policy . . . or a Push to Target 'Made in the USA'?

FoxNews.com ^ | Published September 07, 2011 | By John Roberts

[jessduntno]

They are among the most sought-after musical instruments in the world. Everyone from Chet Atkins to Les Paul to Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin to Slash of Guns n’ Roses played them. A vintage 1959 Les Paul guitar can go for as much as $400,000. Almost every kid who has dreams of music stardom wants a Gibson guitars.

Gibson is also a company that is proud to put the “Made in the USA” label on its instruments. While the company has lower-end lines that are made overseas, every guitar that bears the “Gibson” label is made in the U.S. by American workers.

On August 24, armed agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Homeland Security raided the corporate headquarters and two factories of the Gibson Guitar company. The agencies took away 24 pallets of Indian rosewood and ebony, as well as a number of guitars and computer files.

The federal agents’ contention is that Gibson had illegally imported the exotic wood, which is used to make fretboards and bridges for their high-end instruments. Under the 1900 Lacey Act, which was amended in 2008 to include wood products, American companies must abide by the laws of source countries when importing products. The intent of the law is to protect endangered species of wildlife and plants. U.S. Fish and Wildlife claims that the Gibson wood – in the form of fingerboard ‘blanks’ -- was illegal to export from India and therefore illegal to import into the United States.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/07/does-white-house-want-to-ship-jobs-overseas/#ixzz1XI7sui1G

[Scoutmaster]

The thing that I don’t quite understand about this case is, how the heck does the gov’t go about determining how much finishing labor Indian workers *should* be imparting to these fretboard blanks.

Henry Juszkiewicz's comment about the government saying "in a pleading" that Gibson should use foreign labor was never made about the East Indian Rosewood blanks.

Juszkiewicz said it was made by the government about the Madagascar ebony case that's already a civil contraband forfeiture case (I think the government's wrong on the East Indian Rosewood argument, but that Gibson made the whole thing look suspicious by using a proxy "ultimate consignee" on the shipments through Dallas and Canada).

Juszkiewicz stated that the government made the labor comment "in a pleading," but you'll notice that Gibson and Juszkiewicz have not produced that pleading. It would be a nail in the government's coffin if Gibson did. TIt's a public document and Gibson could produce it - if it existed. However, I've accessed all of the pleadings from U.S. vs. Ebony Wood in Various Forms, Case No. 3:10-cv-00747 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division. The government never says that.

You can access the documents yourself at www.pacer.gov through the case name or case number.

I'm not saying the government is right (the armed raid disgusts me and I think the government's wrong on the East Indian Rosewood issue). I just believe that the truth lies between the government's statements and Gibson's and Juszkiewicz's self-serving press releases.

[Scoutmaster]

“Notice how all the lib musicians who play Gibson’s are silent. They should make a stink.”

Never expect a Lib to take a principled stand on Any Issue which conflicts with their ideology.

It may be because Gibson's and Henry Juszkiewicz's stands often fit in with their liberal ideology. Juszkiewicz is a founder of The Rainforest Alliance (and board member until the Madagascar Ebony confiscation, after which he resigned and asked the Rainforest Alliance to help Gibson develop a procedure for the legal import of wood).

He's also a member of The Environmental Defense Fund, which battles global warming, and a board member of the We Are Family Foundation, whose mission is "respect, understanding and cultural diversity."

Juszkiewicz is "active in the Clinton Global Initiative and numerous environmental causes."

This is all from Gibson's Corporate Kit on Juszkiewicz (I've known he was involved in liberal causes because of my connections in the music industry).

Gibson Guitar runs the Gibson foundation has been involved in replacing musical instruments lost in Katrina since 2005 (I say, thanks, Gibson), and promoting the John Lennon Education Bus Tour.

It's clear how FR posters feel about the raids . . . and the government's position . . . but Juszkiewicz has never been a poster boy for conservatism. Nor has Gibson under Juszkiewicz. Liberal musicians can identify with that part of Gibson.

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

“It may be because Gibson’s and Henry Juszkiewicz’s stands often fit in with their liberal ideology. “

Definately Food for Thought.

I’ll have to look further into this.

Thanks!

[Scoutmaster]

To-Whose-Benefit:

You're welcome to look further into it, and you'll find that all of those associations between Henry Juszkiewicz and liberal groups are correct. He's always being photographed in a tuxedo at some liberal event - or events to raise money for leukemia or cancer research.

However, I don't think the musicians concern themselves too much about the ideology of the makers of their instruments . . . at least they've never had to do so, because the other guitar manufacturers and CEOs don't show up in black tie at conservative affairs as Henry does at all these liberal affairs, nor sit on conservative boards, as Henry does on all these liberal boards.

Henry Juszkiewicz IS Gibson. Although he first purchased it with two Harvard Business School buddies (one of whom has since left), Henry runs Gibson with an iron fist. Nothing is done by or at Gibson without Henry's control.

Based on my knowledge of the industry, I've always assumed that there was a good chance that one or more disgruntled Gibson current or former executives has been feeding information to the government. Out of 11,000 companies, Gibson was ranked the #1 Worst Place to Work in the U.S. in 2009 (down from #5 in 2008). Click on Gibson to read employee comments. Most of the negative comments by employees are about Henry by name or by title (CEO), with complaints about how frequently people are fired without warning or severance, and the rate of executive turnover.

[Scoutmaster]

There are tons of interesting quotes about Henry Juszkiewicz at www.glassdoor.com from current Gibson employees. As one employee says about Gibson, it’s “”an absolutely bizarre culture that top-to-bottom seems to revolve solely around not trying to upset the CEO.”

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

Ouch!

That’s quite an eye opener.