Posted on 10/18/2002 3:58:43 PM PDT by ozone1
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:08:26 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) A last-ditch attempt to save the nation's last major shirt manufacturing plant ran out of steam as sewing machines came to a halt Friday at the plant whose shirts were made world-famous by the man-with-an-eyepatch logo.
C.F. Hathaway, which has been making shirts in Maine for 165 years, will go the way of Arrow and Van Heusen, once strong competitors whose shirts are now being made overseas.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Unionized or not - those jobs are lost and less people are paying into the tax pot. You do realize what that means don't you. You are going to have to 'put a little more into the pot'.
I am not now, nor have I ever been, a supporter or a member of a union. But things are getting bad in this country. The economy is bad, companies are still leaving, and illegals are still coming.
It is just folly to believe we can constantly export jobs, import workers (who can't support themselves), and continue to be a country.
It is everyone's right to be anti-union and I am and have always been so, but I also realize union workers pay taxes, educate their children, obey the laws, buy houses (without taxpayers aid), and in general are contributors to this country.
Yes, the unions are being weakened , for now, but far more damage is being done to the way of life we have enjoyed here. I just can't be happy about that.
The virtues of NAFTA, taxes and folks buying cheap.
Jobs leaving America?
If so, Americans deserve to be unemployed.
Not to worry! The shirts will be appearing on your local Wal-Mart shelves soon.
If jobs leave America, how can Americans keep their jobs?!
Good question. One answer could be: we don't.
Another answer could be: when it hurts enough, we boycott.
Not only that, but I had an old timer tell me the other day that the next war will be faught right here on our soil! It's all becoming so bad in the States. I have a good mind to believe him.
It's easy to see why your Freeper homepage says your a "former newspaper editor".
You don't even come CLOSE to getting your facts right.
By the way, I'm editor enough to know the difference between "your" and "you're." Criticizing my credentials seems a risky occupation for one whose writing skills are so ... dubious.
Cheap labor is certainly a big part of it. Grasping unions and their inefficient work rules and protection for the incompetent workers are another part.
Oh, and don't forget the political payoffs. What? You didn't think we had these in America? Silly girl/boy)!
And while you're at it, don't forget the ever growing lawsuits on everything else plus product liability and skyrocketing insurance costs. Then add in the monstrous accounting fees and legal fees on everything that moves.
Then there's taxes. All kinds of taxes - state, federal and local. Not only income and corporate taxes, but unemployment taxes, workmans compensation, Social Security, and taxes on everything you buy to run your plant, whether it's fuel oil, copier paper, electricity or anything else... and on and on and on. Sure. Other countries have taxes too. The ones most businesses move to have lower ones. See anybody move their business to France lately?
And one of the biggest ones of all - don't forget environmental restrictions, compliance and their ever-present fines, lawsuits and personal and criminal liabilities Then, there's the cleanups from centuries past for those left holding the bag. More lawyer time and unproductive expenses. In the meantime, the producing machinery gets older and older and the unit costs go up and up. Meanwhile, overseas, the plants all have new machinery.
Did I mention Affirmative Action and other forms of "non-discrimination"? Or sexual harrassment lawsuits? Or any of a million ways people try to scam the company with whatever remaining deep pockets it may have or prevent it from hiring the most talented people or firing the worst slugs?
Frankly, why anybody wants to manufacture in this country is almost beyond me - especially any product that takes a lot of unskilled or semi-skilled labor (and increasingly, highly skilled labor).
The manufacturing future is bleak for America. Look at these northern states and their legions of lost industries and their chronic unemployment statistics and crumbling infrastructures with higher and higher cost (and corrupt) governments. That is the future.
Everybody can't do everybody else's laundry, but it is increasingly coming down to that. Government and Service sectors (there's the laundry again) are about the only things that hold any future for workers in many of these blighted areas. And, that's a mighty bleak future!
Your bulldung about $60 per hour wages, stooge.
Here, do some research: 2000 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates -- Maine
Scroll towards the bottom of the chart and look at the Maine textile occupations between "51-6021 Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials" and " 51-6092 Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers". You'll find most everything falls between $8.00 and $13.00 per hour average. Not the bogus $60 per hour you want to spout off about.
BTW, big whoop about my typo.
It's rather trivial compared to your distortion of facts.
That point will never be reached. The state of PA has the charming combination of high property taxes, high sales and income taxes. Business, jobs and skilled workers have long since left the state. It now is known as the state with the highest number of retirees behind Florida. The only people left are the net recipients.
Did gov't repent and set things on a proper course? Of course not. Nothing gets reformed. It can only be supplanted by something wholly new.
Typical Freeper response that makes this board less and less necessary to read. The factory workers DO NOT make $40/hr and they DO show up for work. People ARE buying the shirts. Its just that someone wanted the rights to the brand and did not want to actually run a factory.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.