In 1988 and with Sally Field, below
Posted on 09/14/2009 1:19:43 PM PDT by FourtySeven
She unionized her way out of a job, at least those of her co-workers. How many textile plants still down there in the South? I think the answer is “0”.
The plants relocated to low wage developing countries. China is just the largest.
In 1988 and with Sally Field, below
Some may still be in operation, but the post-receivership company name is now Westpoint International. I think we can guess what that indicates.
Conversely, so many of them were hard and stingy on their workers, it is no wonder Rachel R. wanted to make it better.I think the original union organizers did a lot for workers. Then, as power and money grew in unions, they became magnets for mafia and mafia minded criminal elements, and got in bed with the Dems to coerce and regulate.
Seems the pendulum never equalizes, but swings from too little to too much and back, hitting "just right" only briefly on the way.
vaudine
Exactly. Half Backs. We screwed Florida and turned it into the Bronx/Patterson NJ (you name it), drove up taxes etc etc and we cannot afford it any longer. Let’s move to SC, NC and TN then destroy those states.
I feel sorry for the natives in SC, NC and TN. They are nice people/states and deserve better.
There is no way back up with a union model.
The purpose of unions is to constantly negotiate more money and benefits for less work. There is a point, reached long ago in most industries, at which the labor no longer becomes profitable. It is not a sustainable model.
A poster earlier in the thread mentioned she more recently had become a maid at a hotel. I guess her organizing really paid off.
To the others stating low wage, emerging markets comparativbe advantage economics. The Chinese use slave labor, have no safety or enviro standards. Often with shipping and other costs it is not that much cheaper.
Norma Rae did a wonderful job nuking employment in the SE.
Another thing what is with her picture? She looks like she might be Mexican American or Indian America. Was she illegal? She looks lighter and more like a gringo with Sally Field.
Maybe your simile is better. Every time govt. pretends or tries to make things better, they make them worse because they think they can regulate everything--even the rocks in the river.
vaudine
RIP.
I do not like the fabrics now being imported from Asia — not just the quality of the fabric, but the “foreignness” of the textile designs. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find suitable patches for antique American quilts in need of repair, for instance. Asian-made print fabrics such as calico cotton differ disappointingly from American traditions in color and design motifs.
Except for carpet manufacture, the textile industry that was in the south in the 70’s has completely moved overseas.
Having lived there then and been in the mills with my father, who provided technical mill services, the working conditions in these mills in the 70’s was truly brutal and the workers treated worse than animals in many cases. Noise and dust were unbearable. “Norma Rae” made a pretty good depiction of the working conditions. Unionization could probably have been avoided if mill owners had improved working conditions and treated their workers better, and movement overseas could have been delayed perhaps another decade or so. Ultimately, extremely cheap overseas labor would have done the U.S. textile industry in sooner or later anyway.
Y’all can move to Michigan and Ohio in retaliation.
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