Common Cents
The Key To American Industry
by Antonio Petrosino

The intent of this book is to help secure jobs in our American Workforce. Sound corny? Maybe it is. I'm not a flag waver; I'm not a person to walk around with a banner, saying, "Buy American."

I am a person who does see the need for our workforces to begin to work smarter more efficiently, and by doing so, KEEP THE WORK IN THE U.S.A.

Companies today are moving their plants and factories, outsourcing, etc., from one state to another, or to another country, seeking to pay lower wages, lower taxes and for various other reasons, in order to make a profit.

BOTTOM LINE for companies...Has Been and Always Will Be...to "MAKE A PROFIT."

This book was written to help management personnel, from the front line supervisor to the CEO, to enable their workforces to do the job, which we know they can do, and to secure the jobs for their employees, their selves and for the future of their families.

About the Author:

I know, I know, usually all the hype about the author of the book is at the end of the book, but this is different. In order for anyone to gain any value from this book, it's important for him or her to realize that, I've BEEN THERE & DONE THAT BEFORE.

Perhaps you remember one of the old TV shows, where the person said, "No Brag, Just Fact." Well, the fact is that I've been out there in the workforce, as a supervisor and hourly worker, and at this point of time I am in the workforce as a training coordinator in a titanium plant.

Let me tell you a little about my background. I began in the workforce, like most teenagers did, by doing odd jobs (grass cutting, car washing, etc.), and then at age eighteen I began tending bar in a local restaurant. At age twenty I got married, and then at age twenty-one I really joined the workforce. I became an underground coal miner.

I worked underground for eleven years, eight years as a member of the United Mine Workers of America, and three years as a production supervisor. I left there and became an instructor for a vocational college, training personnel to work in the coalfields of Ohio. This lasted for eight months, and then I went to work for a coal mining company as a training coordinator, where I developed and taught courses in coal mining and management skills. I spent four years training coal miners, hourly and salaried employees, and then the bottom fell out of the coal mining industry and I moved into the metals industry. There, I spent eight months as a member of the United Steel workers of America, and , as to date, twenty-four years in a management position (front line supervisor, labor management coordinator, project facilitator, and training coordinator) with this company. I also had three years where I had went to a Ferro Alloy Plant as a front line supervisor, and I did safety training for them on a consulting basis.

Wow, I don't know about you, but I impressed the heck out of me.

In amongst all of this, at age forty-seven I went back to college and received a B.A degree in Human Resource Management and I've been an instructor for OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) and MSHA (Mining Safety & Health Administration).

As I previously stated, "Been There & Done That Before." I've worked with the good and the bad, in both hourly and salaried ranks. I've seen people lose their jobs, even their lives, in industry.

This book is intended to have people start to think about what they are doing and what they may be able to do better.

Good luck, and remember to use your Common Cents.

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