Former Fuyao Glass Workers Describe Harsh Conditions at Dayton-Area Roundtable With Rep. Khanna

Former employees of Fuyao Glass America Inc., a Chinese-linked glass manufacturer operating out of a former General Motors plant in Ohio, gathered Tuesday at the International Union of Electrical Workers hall in Dayton to describe what they called years of mistreatment on the factory floor.

The session was convened by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., the ranking member on the House Select Subcommittee on the Chinese Communist Party, who traveled to Dayton to conduct congressional oversight of the company.

Tiffany Moore, who said she worked at the factory for three years, told the group the physical conditions inside were severe. “My experience at Fuyao was not a good experience,” Moore said. “The heat in there is unbearable; they don’t care.”

Demetria Hodges, who said she worked at Fuyao for five years, told the roundtable that management used pressure tactics to discourage workers from unionizing. “First they were trying to use scare tactics to get us to not vote for the union,” Hodges said. “Then they offered a $2 an hour pay raise … which they have never given again. And that was like 10 years ago.”

An attendee identified only as Darrell, a former employee, told the group the company required staff to keep working the day after a fatal workplace accident. He said 57-year-old Ricky Patterson was killed in an industrial accident involving glass at the plant. “When that guy got smashed by … glass, we had to work the next day, we were stressed out. He was trying to load up the glass. He was a little shaky because he had just lost his mom,” Darrell said. “They made us work,” he told the group, which reacted with visible shock.

Khanna’s oversight push

Khanna had previously sent Fuyao a letter requesting a package of information for his committee, including details on wage suppression, worker conditions, and potential violations of U.S. immigration and labor laws.

In an Oct. 1 letter to company leadership, shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, Khanna wrote that Fuyao’s response had been inadequate. “Fuyao Glass America Inc. (FGA) has only provided a single supposed reply letter, dated September 23, that answers virtually none of the Committee’s questions in a material way and fails to include any document submissions,” he wrote.

“Thus far, a generous interpretation of your approach toward this investigation would be that Fuyao does not appreciate Congress’s oversight function and the American system of government,” Khanna wrote. “A less generous interpretation of your lack of transparency would be that your companies have something to hide, beyond even what multiple federal investigations, documentaries, and press reports about Fuyao’s conduct have already uncovered.”

Khanna had also requested permission to visit the Fuyao factory in Ohio but did not receive express authorization from the company to do so. He proceeded with the roundtable of former workers regardless.