[Rockinfreakapotamus]

Does the loss of 1.1 million U.S. manufacturing jobs matter?

During the past year, America lost more than 1.1 million manufacturing jobs.

Every core sector of manufacturing was touched - industrial machinery, autos, electronics, steel, and textiles, among others - and these losses were experienced in all parts of America.

Today, manufacturing employment in the United States stands at the same level it did in 1964.

Some of these job losses were caused by the current recession. Improved technology also displaced some of these workers.

Yet, many workers lost their jobs because domestic factories have shifted their operations to low-wage, nonregulation countries. In other industries, foreign producers have seized market share from U.S. producers.

Does the loss of these jobs matter?

[Rockinfreakapotamus]

fyi since y'all have previously commented on this subject.

[Rodney King]

Is a piece of crap Geo metro crafted with pride? Or is their a different Crafted in the USA label for products that are shabbily built by lazy union workers?

[Landru]

Another poster writes:

"It is no longer economically feasible to open and operate a manufacturing plant of any great size because the wages that the unions will demand the workers be paid, the taxes the company will have to pay to the government for the privilege of operating in the US and the fees incurred for the clean-up of the pollution that is inevitably a by-product of industry makes it impossible to produce a product that the general consuming public can afford."

Nicely put, I should think.
As anyone can see, this problem's an exremely complicated one.
A problem I haven't clue #1 as to how it should be, or could be solved.

...not as long as the aforementioned forces above rule the day, I don't.

[WriteOn]

This is one I struggle with: is it better to pay Americans to assemble parts? That's what we're talking about. If we trained monkeys to assemble a chassis, what would big labor be, but a circus? What we OUGHT to do is export labor unions.

[Tourist Guy]

I am happy to see CPUSA is still around. I supported them back in the early 90's, but after losing the GATT battle in 1994, I've pretty much put my time and efforts elsewhere.

:sidebar: Free trade threads get more people screaming around here than the religious threads. Considering the economic globalization plan commonly known as "free trade" has all been in the works since the end of WWII, I'd say the enemy has done a durn good job thus far...

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

Let me testify that the Bose Acoustimass home theatre package I just installed is the finest stereo system I have personally ever owned or heard. Bose is an American company headquartered in Framingham, MA. I don't know where my components were manufactured but I know this American company knows how to design wonderful sound equipment.

[broomhilda]

Thank you for all these wonderful links. I remember when the Ladies Garment Workers Union was the first union to start the Made in the U.S.A. campaign. It didn't seem to matter to the auto workers union when the Japanese cars were made with non-union labor. Then they built auto manufacturing plants in the south with Japanese Construction companies and that didn't seem to matter to anyone either. And guess what happened? All of a sudden the wonderful high paying manufacturing jobs were gone and we became a nation of "marketeers" instead of manufacturers. We just import everything made with cheap labor, mark it up 500% percent, turn on the "marketeers" and our numbers people (the MBAs) hold a big 30% off sale and the American people think they are getting a bargain and they buy it. Everyone is fat and happy until they lose their jobs and then they want to know what happened! They don't understand that a deficit means you are out of money. That's what happens when you have a country without a manufacturing capablity. This is what creates a trade imbalance.

[lakey]

Thanks for the heads up. Will read it tomorrow.

[CIBvet]

A bump for bringing decent paying jobs back to the USA, for the USA Families that need them.

If you want to sell it to the USA market, you can damn well make it in the USA with honestly paid labor. Period !!!