Posted on 07/11/2012 3:54:16 PM PDT by BenLurkin
ONTARIO (CBS) — These are tough times for Mag Instrument Inc., whose Maglite has defined quality flashlights in America for a half-century.
The company’s 82-year old founder and president, Anthony Maglica, who still spends part of his day working in the tool, dye, and mold shop, told KCAL9′s Dave Bryan the tough times really hit home when he had to send out pink slips.
“I should really reduce the staff down to between 400 and 500, but where are they gonna go?” said Maglica. “There is no jobs.”
Maglica says there’s more than the slow economy at work here.
For years, he has battled to gain the designation “Made in the USA” for his flashlights, which he says contain almost 100 percent American made parts and are assembled right here in Ontario – all but a handful of parts, he says, that either aren’t made in America or are prohibitively expensive in the US.
California has the strictest standards in the country for companies that want the “Made in the USA” designation, and supporters of the law say the law should be strict because it’s a truth in advertising issue.
“If it’s all made in the USA, then a company can say it’s ‘Made in the USA’,” said consumer attorney Tim Blood. “But if it’s only partially made in the USA, then a company is free to say, ‘Partially Made’ or ‘Mostly Made in the USA’, or ‘Assembled in the USA by American Workers’, that’s all totally fine.”
In fact, the Maglite packaging does have an American flag in the upper corner with the words “A USA Manufacturer”, but Maglica charges that in the global economy of 2012, its almost impossible to have every tiny O-ring made in the US, where they cost 25 times as much as China.
“All I’m asking, to be equal to New York State, to Washington, anywhere where I can put ‘Made in the USA’, but I can’t put it in California, where I make it,” said Maglica.
But this month, an attempt to soften the California rules, which had already pass the Assembly with no dissent, lost by one vote in a state senate committee chaired by Sen. Mark Leno, from San Francisco.
Supporters of the tough statute argue that without it companies would take all kinds of liberties with “Made in America”.
“If they want to be able to say, ‘Made in the USA’, and it’s worth it to them economically to say, ‘Made in the USA’, and they’re going to make money off it, they they can make that determination and they can actually have the parts made in the USA,” said Blood.
Maglica says the “Made in the USA” designation would give him a slight edge over the cheaper knockoff flashlights made outside the country, but he’s running out of time.
“I’m so frustrated, because it’s so unfair, that the guy that brings the stuff from China, all the junk, and I have no advantage over him at all,” said Maglica.
But Blood believes the designation goes much deeper than simply a superficial sticker.
“If it’s ‘Made in the USA’, it ought to be made in the USA,” he said. “It’s a jobs issue, it’s a consumer rights issue, it’s good for the economy, it’s good for the market, and the way you keep markets clean is to keep fraud out of it.”
Attempts to reach Leno and other lawmakers who voted against softening the state rules against the “Made in the USA” designation for comment were unsuccessful.
And how much would it cost them for CA/EPA permitting to handle the molten fluoroelastomers on site? How much would they have to pay per unit for continued compliance? How much would they have to spend on ridiculous and un-needed monitoring equipment and anti-pollution devices that the state and/or EPA will mandate?
Oh stop....They do all that. From their website..
_______________________________________________________
West Coast Gasket products can be found in a variety of shapes and designs from recreational products, automotive, medical, aerospace and industrial, to specialty formed, sealable gaskets for demanding vacuum and environmental applications.
Materials and Services Silicone Neoprene, Nitrile, Butyl, EPDM, Natural Rubber, Viton TPR, TPE, Rubber Alloys, SBR, Conductive Rubber, Rubber to Metal Synthetics Fluoroelastomers All Types of Plastics Thermo and Thermoset Plastics Custom Applications Large and Intricate Shapes Quick turn-around on prototype and production molds
Flashlight boy from Ontario is a chump for dealing with Communist China. He really needs to remove the made in USA label IMO.
| Materials and Services | |
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Silicone |
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Neoprene, Nitrile, Butyl, EPDM, Natural Rubber, Viton |
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TPR, TPE, Rubber Alloys, SBR, Conductive Rubber, Rubber to Metal |
|
Synthetics |
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Fluoroelastomers |
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All Types of Plastics |
|
Thermo and Thermoset Plastics |
|
Custom Applications |
|
Large and Intricate Shapes |
|
Quick turn-around on prototype and production molds |
Yup. But they don’t say which are on site and which are contracted out or which are shipped in from overseas.
Many if not most such shops in the US will advertise products they offer that they don’t actually make on site. It’s much like Glock can’t make the metal parts of their handguns in the US - the Tenifer finish they use is not permitted to be applied in the US. Thank you, EPA.
Another illuminating item for you - why don’t you ask around to see how many actual chrome shops are left in LA. And why that number is the way it is.
That's the best one since Judge Lester accused George Zimmerman of "flaunting" the system by being quiet during his bail hearing.
I understand West Coast Gasket does most of their own stuff. It's a big operation doing big biz.
why don’t you ask around to see how many actual chrome shops are left in LA.
Chrome shops are nasty places, much of which employ nothing but illegals, I would hope they all moved elsewhere. Like much of what's left of our manufacturing, the greedy employers like their illegal low wage help, which drags down everything around them.
You can tell the quality of these types of businesses immediately, just by looking at and speaking to their employees.
I have too much respect for my wrists to use a baton much, especially since there are many good alternatives, such as tonfa, snap and spring sticks, combat nunchuku, etc.
Though I am reminded of a short story by H.L. Mencken, of an officer who argued that it was not physically possible to hit certain perps on the head, with a baton, with excessive force. Despite his best efforts to do so.
Eventually investigated for a particularly effective clubbing of a perp with an impressively bony skull and bad attitude, though the officer was acquitted of any wrongdoing, he said that changing times had taken away much of the enjoyment to be found in detaining such recalcitrants.
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