Laid-Off Factory Workers Find Jobs Are Drying Up for Good

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Monday, July 21, 2003 | CLARE ANSBERRY

[TroutStalker]

BUTLER, Pa. -- The two Karenbauer brothers and their cousin, Danny Mottern, have worked alongside each other for much of their lives. Working with their hands comes naturally to all three. As young boys they were dispatched to feed the cows and plant corn on their grandfather's 134-acre farm.

[harpseal]

Exactly. So how about we stop demagoging business owners, start defending capitalism and begin dismantling of the welfare / regulatory state.

I am not demagoging business owners and will happily join you in dismantaling the welfare state. On otehr threads I have proposed "Enterprise zones" where there is no corporate income tax for activities that aredone there. Of course tehse zones would be producing products in the USA and the jobs therein would go to Americans and only legal permanent residents of the USA.

[tm22721]

The acceleration of change is making people uneasy and ripe for insurgency.

BUMP

[harpseal]

I would also be more tahn happy to see the regulatory state dismantled but neither one of these programs will go through soon enough to effectively save teh capital investment in the USA that needs to be saved. Government policies should be focused ongiving business owners a good return on cpaital invested without destroying them through confiscatory taxes further to encourage investment within the uSA a reasonable tariff structure to deal with foreign subsidies and tariff abuses must also be in place.

[harpseal]

Some additional points one of the purposes behind these "enterprise zones." would be as a demo for repeal of taxes on Corporate profits hopefully leading to an eventual turning to entirely consumption taxes. Furtehr the limitation of regulation within these enterprise zones would also denmonstrate the utility of such limitation.

[TopDog2]

Name calling in your first response. That doesn't bode well for a civilized discourse...

Many times, workers may feel they have few options and stay with a company that abuses them. For example, my grandfather worked in a steel mill. At that time, the steel industry was the only industry in town and the only indistry that he knew. Indeed, at that point in history, most employers treated their workers with contempt.

You may not feel you need a union to negotiate for you, but others feel differently. Do they have no right to ask for help in negotiating their wages and benefits? You seem to forget that negotiatins are a two-way street. The company has the right to deny the requested wages and benefits.

It also seems to be no conincidence that the rise of the middle and the rise of unionism in this country occured at the same time.

Most unions are upstanding institutions. To paint them with your broad brush would be as unfair as someone painting all management as crooks based on what occured at Enron.

[searchandrecovery]

>>"A society consisting of a very small number of very rich and a large number of unemployed."
>You seem to be over-reacting there just a tad, Chicken Little.

You are a moron.

[waterstraat]

this isn't a cyclical downturn

That says it all.

[Willie Green]

Brad Karenbauer, 39 years old, was a tool and die man. Mr. Mottern, 42, was a welder. Jim Karenbauer, 60, ran the forge shop...
Most of these basic and low-skill factory jobs aren't liable to...

Tool and Die is "low skill"???

This WSJ writer is either totally ignorant of the topic he's covering, or he's intentionally perpetuating a Big Lie.

[waterstraat]

Tool and Die is "low skill

Most of the tool and die shops around me have closed, there used to be lots of them a few years ago.

[A. Pole]

Family and familiar surroundings are powerful anchors.

For the normal human beings, yes.

[Walkin Man]

I've done factory work most of my life and its plain to see that it is dying out in the USA. The government, dems and repub's, apparently decided that the USA no longer needs a manufacturing base, nor the middle-class people that worked in it.

Someday this globalist, free-trade crap is gonna come back to haunt us all. I realize the free-traitors won't be satisfied until three-quarters of the US population are living in cardboard boxes under bridges like the workers paradise in Red China and Mexico but something is gonna give before we get to that point in time, I believe.

[PFKEY]

Ever notice its all about saving money and putting that "saved" money into the Stockholders, CEO's and all the other alphabet soup title's pockets. Why aren't these bone heads concerned with making money? because that would require them to actually have a brain and it would interfere with their tee times at the local golf club.

Interesting take.

If any old bonehead can be a CEO and spend their day golfing then we would all be CEO's.

Who ever said these companies owe you or I a job?

These companies are started and owned by individuals.

Should they all be run at a loss just so we can have jobs?

Go start a company and employ all these good people.

[A. Pole]

What you say might well be true but I for one do not think adopting China's medical system is going to be an improvement.

The dismantling of socialized care system in China allowed free market testing of SARS. The health care should be only for those who can afford it - let the hundred plagues bloom.

[A. Pole]

Those living in the USA who are American citizens owe loyalty to the USA. There is no right to commit treason.

Really? What if you are offered a competitive, free market reward for treason? Isn't free trade more important that some obsolete unprofitable ideas of loyalty?

[UnBlinkingEye]

harpseal: Those living in the USA who are American citizens owe loyalty to the USA. There is no right to commit treason.

A. Pole: Really? What if you are offered a competitive, free market reward for treason? Isn't free trade more important that some obsolete unprofitable ideas of loyalty?

Luckily, harpseal is committed to the USA and the Constitution. The same for you A. Pole, the problem is our corrupt political class and our anesthetized population.

The fight to restore the Constitution is of much greater significance than our 'wars' on drugs, terror and the now defunct War on Poverty.

[redangus]

When nobody has a job who will pay the electricians and plumbers?

[patton]

Dunno. But in my neighborhood, for the price of a good drain auger and a few business cards, I would bet one could make $125.00/hr, easy.

You just have to be willing to get dirty.

[clamper1797]

..We are moving to a society most in the uSA will not like. The potential violence that this will bring ... A society consisting of a very small number of very rich and a large number of unemployed. See Argentina for a current example. Such societies are inherently unstable. Educated and otherwise productive people do not take being idles well. The results come in many forms including what happened in the Weimar Republic.

Wisely observed, friend.

I'd like to second that. Good comment, Harpseal.

I'm afraid that you are exactly right my friend

[BudgieRamone]

Its more than just any old person being a CEO, its having a good line of BS. Knowing who to BS and being a "yes man" to the person who will get you somewhere even if you don't know your job.

Take note that classes are offered in golf for corporate advancement in college business schools now. Frightened?

And for the record I never said they owe me a job, they don't.

When I do get my shop going--working on it now-- many fine people will be hired because I will be in the business to make money, not see who I can screw out of a job by cutting costs.

[PFKEY]

Frightened?

No, are you?