Posted on 09/11/2004 3:01:29 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
ONEIDA, N.Y. - Dishware maker Oneida Ltd. said Thursday it will close its remaining factory in upstate New York early next year, ending all its manufacturing of flatware because of high operating costs.
The decision will cost about 500 workers their jobs, including manufacturing and managerial positions.
Oneida said high operating costs of its last flatware factory in Sherrill, near Syracuse, caused substantial losses. Oneida plans to continue marketing the affected products by using independent suppliers.
"For the long-term viability of our company, closing the factory dramatically lowers our costs which will help return Oneida to profitability," chairman and chief executive Peter Kallet said.
About 400 jobs will remain in the Oneida area following the last factory closing, mostly at its corporate headquarters and warehouse and distribution centers. The Oneida-based company employs about 1,200 people worldwide.
The announcement came as the company reported a second quarter net loss of $48.3 million on Thursday including non-recurring charges of about $45.5 million.
The non-recurring charges, in addition to the factory closing expenses, involved inventory writedowns and other expenses related to the sale of the Encore Promotions, Inc. subsidiary.
In June, the company reached a tentative deal with its lenders on a restructuring plan and $30 million in new revolving credit to help avoid bankruptcy.
Oneida lost $99.2 million last year. As a result, the company closed or sold five factories and now buys most of its china, glassware and flatware from other companies to resell under the Oneida brand name.
So was the economy in the 90s good? Have we ever had a good economy?
The economy of the 90s was terrible. It might have seemed good in some areas but there were a lot of problems showing up in the early 90s --- the economy we have now is just a continuation of the 90s economy.
The economy of the 80s was good -- a long recession of the late 70s ended and what was called Reagan's "voodoo" economics turned out to be a good plan.
A good economy is where someone can move into the middle class just by being willing to work hard --- and a middle class job shouldn't require someone have a graduate degree. The middle class should be attainable for the average person -- and the large majority of the population should be middle class --- that makes for the most stability and self-reliance.
Oneida never modernized. Too ugly for Crate and Barrel, too expensive for Target. Stick a fork in 'em.
Apparently you're either unwilling or unable to pay the cost. If only you'd paid an additional $100 million for your last year's order, they factory would have been profitable and presumably still churning out goods.
Probably not long if that's what its citizens settle for.
You seem to have a pretty dim view of the average American. If most are like you, I'd say you have a point.
No, you mean, "No matter what your union steward says." Union interference with day to day operations and the constant threat of work stoppage and job actions coupled with the cost to the company of union personnel doing union business make the costs of doing business in a US unionized environment simply too high!
If we are talking 400 union employees, my bet is that at least 8 and maybe 16 are paid for by the company but do nothing but "union business." Add the management time that is necessary to meet with the union hacks while they do union business and you have a cost burden that outweighs every productivity advantage the US workers have.
So more protectionism?
I too mourn the loss of our manufacturing base, but I don't think it's going to come back. We are going through a transition in this country. We are also a different people. More sedentary, heavy and less likely to want to do factory work. Have you seen MTV lately?
Better yet, what's the TOTAL, TOTAL unemployment rate. How many are simply out of the workforce because there are are not unlimited government jobs paying $100 million per hour to stick your head out of the door once a quarter and then pull it back in?
And you think the economy is shrinking because?
I would think it would be meaningful to look at all the welfare programs combined and figure out how many people lack the ability to support themselves and their families -- total number on welfare programs should be some pretty low number -- whatever the number of people with IQ's under 60 and the number so handicapped they can do no work.
It's tiresome how the MSM trumpets every "lost job" ad nauseum, but carefully avoids reporting new jobs that are opened up, or any other of the many positive economic statistics that are out there.
AMEN! And in spite of freetraders the American steel industry survived difficult moments - thanks to the GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION. See Bushs moles dig for victory
Ah, how about America? Like, leaving Europe. Or moving to the Ohio valley. Or west of the Mississippi. Or California, or bust?
Personally, I've got a beautiful pattern...to each his or her own :).
Someone else wrote something on this thread that has forced me to revise my free traitor ways of thinking. It was something about being in a "caboose" and then pulling my head out...it was at that point that I really did get it.
Tariffs really are the way to go, ya know. It allows us to manipulate the market for a good in such a way so as to keeps domestic producers from having to find ways to cut costs or improve their products in order to retain customers. We even get a little cash to the treasury to boot - that's why I prefer them over import quotas. And, it's not like the consumers are really feeling it, shoot, it's not like they really notice the tiny amount that they're getting overcharged because it's spread out amongst 280 million people...in fact I wonder why every industry doesn't do this.
Now some may say that we'll face a retaliation by a former trading partner but I say let 'em retaliate. Because the less trade that happens the better off the domestic employers will be and we all know that that's where the jobs come from. And, we all know that American Made means absolutely the highest quality...so why share that with the rest of the world markets anyway; screw them if they retaliate.
OK, it is the government's responsibility to provide for the general welfare of our nation. I think that politicians should get involved in the planning and allocation of resources in our economy even more so than they do right now; they should be on equal footing with the private industries when it comes to guiding our economy through the capitalistic process - nothing could be less socialistic.
Finally, I am for less competition and ,consequently, less product choices - namely foreign crap! You free traitors can spring that product improvement argument on me all day long but you do remember the days when products were constructed heavier and more durable. Ahh yes, those were the days.
So you see, you really are better off because the old products are really an improvement over the newer ones. You get taxed less because of the tariff taking care of some of the costs to run government (even the asshat politicians who now have to calculate tariffs and other well intentioned measures). You get more American made products. And, what's better, you don't have to hear that giant sucking sound as you make a race for the bottom. Sure you may have less choices, have to spend a little more, have a little more central planning, less product improvement, less people with an abundance of human capital seeking whole new products and services to develop, less opportunity to invest capital to find the most gain/profit. And it's also better because there will be no unemployment because you'll be working your ass off at the textile mill cranking out garments just fast enough to clothe all the kids that will be going back to school in the fall - back to school to learn how to sew cloth, forge steel, assemble products, and greet customers on the telephone!!!
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