[Bringbackthedraft]

So much for "Look for the Union Lable".

[theDentist]

No more Levi's for me.

[joesnuffy]

Wranglers...
levis are for social liberals

[ARCADIA]

I use to think that it ment something else; but, now a "booming" economy is probably when the ex-workers take up arms and start shooting.

[Hodar]

It used to be that there were only a few competing manufacturer's for Blue Jeans. Wrangler, Levi and Lee jeans (plus a handful of me-too producers). Now, we have a gazillionty makers, including designer labels (Polo, GAP, Tommy Hillfiger), and Levi and Lee have been thrown out in, to make way for new and trendy fashion statements.

These companies are fighting in a industry that has the prices remaining static for the past 30 years (I bought jeans for $20 at Sears in 1979; and I can get the same jeans at Sears today for $20). Unions don't help matters.

One of the downsides of having only a single staple in your industry, is that when your product loses mass appeal, you will go down with the ship. For example, Dell now sells PC and Printers (soon HDTV's, MP3 players, cameras, ect). Other companies with only a single 'product' are going to go bust when they no longer command the mass appeal (attention Nike and Rebok).

[El Gato]

San Antonio Express News Article.

NEW: Levi Strauss to close plants here by year's end

By Elizabeth Allen
Express-News Business Writer

Web Posted : 09/25/2003 10:42 AM

Levi Strauss & Co., in its continuing efforts to cut costs, will close the two San Antonio plants that sew and finish its jeans by year’s end, putting 800 people out of work and ending the company’s manufacturing history in the U.S.

"It’s critical to the company’s long-term competitiveness that we continue our ongoing shift away from manufacturing toward becoming more of a marketing and product-focused company," said Levi spokeswoman Katie Otto.

What that means is that the company is contracting with manufacturing plants in other countries to produce its designs at a lower cost.

San Antonio’s plants were the company’s last two U.S. plants. Otto said the sewing facility, which employs 550, and the finishing plants, where 250 people work, will close by the end of the year. She said employees will be offered a severance package that Levi is still negotiating with the Union of Needletrades Industrial and Textile Employees.

The company will also offer employees help in looking at their future options, writing resumes and searching for new jobs. Some of that will be direct help and some will be through grants to local organizations.

"We have established a community transition fund with more than $700,000 in grants," Otto said. "We still need to identify those organizations."

Levi plants once dotted the region from San Angelo to the Rio Grande Valley. But for years that company and other clothing manufacturers have been shutting down their North American plants and moving the business offshore to cheaper sites.

Otto said the contracting facilities will have to agree to a "very strict code of conduct" in providing a "safe and respectful" workplace.

eallen@express-news.net

[MD_Willington_1976]

Levi's is doing the same thing in Canada...Probly moving there shops to China or Mexico...

Levi Strauss closing three Canadian plants
United States (Sep. 25, 2003 - 10:56)

From Webfin.com

http://www.webfin.com/en/news/news.html/?id=39153

RICHMOND HILL, Ont. (CP) -- Jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co. is closing its three remaining manufacturing plants in Canada next year in a restructuring that will cut 1,180 jobs.

The U.S. clothing giant said Thursday the move continues the company's drive begun in the late 1990s to shift all its manufacturing to outside suppliers and away from owned and operated plants.

The three Canadian plants affected are sewing operations in Edmonton and Stoney Creek, Ont., near Hamilton, and a finishing centre in the southwestern Ontario community of Brantford. A plant in Texas is also being closed.

The closures are expected to occur by next March.

"Our employees have done a tremendous job and these closures are in no way a reflection on their good work," said Julie Klee, general manager of Levi Strauss & Co. (Canada) Inc. "As painful as they are, however, the closures are an absolutely necessary part of ensuring the long-term competitiveness of our business.

"Moving away from owned-and-operated manufacturing to a broader sourcing base will strengthen our business by giving us much more flexibility. It will allow us to use the right sources - with the capabilities and cost-competitiveness that we need - to get a wider range of products to market faster.

Klee said the closures will allow the company to focus on product design, marketing and sales of its jeans.

The company said it intends to offer a comprehensive separation package to affected employees and will meet with unions in coming weeks to discuss the move. As well, the Levi Strauss Foundation has set up a $700,000 US transition fund to help the three affected communities.

Levi Strauss Canada, headquartered just north of Toronto, is the wholly owned subsidiary of Levi Strauss & Co., one of the world's leading branded apparel marketers. In Canada, the company markets and sells jeans, casual wear and accessories under the Levi's, Dockers, GWG and Levi Strauss Signature brands.

[TopQuark]

Meet Willie Green, the peddler of anti-corporate and anti-capitalist news on FR.

[dixie sass]

Union, bull hockey! They are part of the reason that American companies leave. They can't afford to pay American workers the salaries they demand and still have a reasonably priced product.

Everytime the unions get hirer wages, the prices go up - who can afford the products made in this country anymore? Not me, I have to purchase what I can afford!

Lets elimate credit cards and items that really cause Americans financial difficulty. When we can't go out and charge $100's of dollars of goods, when we have to pay cash only for goods and services, maybe then ...

No that won't even work, maybe taxes elimanated? Retail Sales Tax only, who knows...

[Lost Highway]

Am I correct in remembering a while back when Levis gave money to anti-gun groups?

[ZULU]

Good ridance. Levi Strauss was a heavy contributor to the Dems and leftist causes.

I'd like to see Bill Gates go the same way.

[Revolting cat!]

Levi has long priced its denim products 20-30% higher than the comparable products from Wrangler and Lee (both now owned by the same company.) Why buy Levi's?

[Redbob]

Awwwww...

There goes the regular donation to Pax, I guess!

[Redbob]

What does THIS have to do with guns, you ask?

Easy: Levi is a major contributor to the bastion of gun-grabbers, Pax.

Anything that hurts Levis hurts the gun-grabbers.

[sasafras]

Levi is one of the worst when it comes to promoting the liberal and anti-family agenda. Good riddens and I hope Levi goes bankrupt. As for american jobs - anytime we can cut back on union jobs its a good thing. The union had its place now it needs to go away or get out of supporting the dems. Dont buy Levi's.

[StarCMC]

Haven't bought a pair of Levi's since they pressured the Boy Scouts to accept gay scout leaders or lose their monetary support. Glad to see they're feeling the pinch!

[piasa]

After Levi's made the snotty decision to pull their jeans from a long-time vendor who specialized in selling work and farm clothing because that faithful Illinois businessman's image wasn't chic enough for them- and worse, was too conservative for them. A lot of people in Illinois quit buying their products- and this was in a part of the country where people didn't use the term "jeans" but used the word "Levis" to describe any blue jeans. Levis used to be all everyone wore so their brand name just became part of the lexicon. Levi's "chic" dirtball image evidently didn't do as much for business as they had hoped; even the use of "Levis" as jeans faded, pardon the pun.

So I can't say I miss them...

[lasereye]

I think clothing manufacturing has been declining for decades in this country. It's a fairly low skill, labor intensive industry, so it can never pay much in wages.

[chainsaw]

Could part of their problem be because they enjoy trashing the second amendment...One reason I won't buy Levi's

[JohnSmithee]

If this continues I wonder if brand names will have much signficance in the future?