A House Divided: Manufacturing In Crisis

IndustryWeek ^ | Tuesday, November 01, 2005 | Doug Bartholomew

[Willie Green]

ping

[TXBSAFH]

There are not many American companies left, most are multinationals who only have loyalities to money.

[stuartcr]

$$$ has, and always will be, a uniting factor.

[brownsfan]

"$$$ has, and always will be, a uniting factor."

Without question. I've always seen it bring out the best in people.

In fact, I'd like to see one world government, the United Nations of $.

[Eagles Talon IV]

A whole lot of words to say that manufacturing in this country is not what it was because the same things we used to build here can now be made less expensively and just as well somewhere else.

Perhaps the union members would like to take a 90% cut in wages and benefits? Didn't think so, nor should they be expected too, but the unions incessant demands for more and more have caused the dollars needed to produce things to go elsewhere so that more product can be mfg for those same dollars.

Mfg as we knew it in America is gone and will never return as long as other countries can pay their workers a dollar an hour.

[ex-snook]

Thanks for the ping read.

Washington has catered to consumers and ignored producers. American producers are being sacrificed on the altar of so-called free trade.

Multinational corporations who no longer consider themselves American should be considered foreigners and not allowed to contribute to PACs or deduct lobbying money on tax returns.

[Willie Green]

Perhaps the union members would like to take a 90% cut in wages and benefits? Didn't think so, nor should they be expected too, but the unions incessant demands for more and more have caused the dollars needed to produce things to go elsewhere so that more product can be mfg for those same dollars.

Or perhaps you simply believe in an antiquated paradigm.

Nationwide, only 15% of the manufacturing workforce is represented by organized labor.
In comparison, over 40% of government workers are unionized.
(Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by occupation and industry)

[devane617]

Look out below for GM and Ford.

[Steven W.]

and I don't understand the obsession is about it - frankly I'm glad I don't have to slave away in a steel mill for mere pennies on the dollar paid these days to white collar workers. I guess if you're brain-dead and without any worthwhile skill sets then I can see why Willie laments the loss of his job ROFLMAO!

[Hank Rearden]

Perhaps union thugs who demand a hell of a lot of money for doing not very much would be willing to get off their subsidized, lazy asses and compete a little bit, huh?

[stuartcr]

At least we would all know where we stood in the world...

[CSM]

"Large manufacturers don't feel the market changes anywhere near as fast or as hard as the smaller companies," observes Martin Piszczalski,.....

---

This guy is full of hot air. This statement alone tells removes any credibility that may have been seen in this article.

[jeremiah]

The movement towards one-worldism is ongoing and relentless. Whatever one believes, it is part of the plan for mankind and was foretold. Fighting against it is impossible.

Tin foil hat is off, and kevlar shorts are in place...

[uncbob]

There are not many American companies left, most are multinationals who only have loyalities to money.

What makes you think it was any different when they were so called AMERICAN COMPANIES

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The demise of manufacturing has been caused by government socialist policies.

[elbucko]

I guess if you're brain-dead and without any worthwhile skill sets then I can see why Willie laments the loss of his job ROFLMAO!

Whatever you do, be it brain surgeon, corporate attorney, rocket scientist, computer programmer, or, fill in blank: _________________, your skill can and will be learned by a willing intellect in an Asian country. You can take your "Let them eat cake" attitude and rub it in with a "ROFLMAO!", but your job is just as at risk as the ones you hold in contempt. The Asians will be the ones "ROFLMAO!" and you will be underemployed or unemployed.

[jpsb]

bump

[Eagles Talon IV]

The move to cheaper overseas labor was seeded by the unions greed. The fact they are but 15% of mfg is do to their own greed. In the 1960's my mother worked in the office for AT&T as a computer operator. At that time the unions were strong and fought tooth and nail over the attempts of the company to modernize and increase productivity via the increased use of technology. As the salaries of the workers in these offices climbed higher and higher the cost to switch over to full or almost full mechanization became more and more reasonable. At last the tipping point was reached and the computers my mom fed data to for billing etc became advanced enough to not need human supervision to any great extent. The machines take no sick days, get no vacations and work 24/7/365. It is the unions themselves who brought this switch to technology on more rapidly then it would otherwise have occurred.

I grew up in the 50's and remember Jimmy Hoffa publicly stating that if his unions demands weren't met he would "bring this country to it's knees". He could have done it too. Instead these sorts of threats only caused companies to find ways to do without as many people. The greed of the unions became the seeds of their own demise.

AS for the gov't unions, they are protected by the p[political correctness crowd and they elected officials. Their day too will come.

[Willie Green]

Perhaps union thugs who demand a hell of a lot of money for doing not very much would be willing to get off their subsidized, lazy asses and compete a little bit, huh?

Or perhaps you should get off YOUR lazy ass and read my reply #8.