Worst case scenario we open the factory in New Jersey and pay union workers $40.00 per hour, how much would that move increase the labor cost and by how much?
Let's say for argument that is takes 5 minutes to make one shirt(probably less time than that but we will go with 5 minutes of labor). the labor per shirt in Bangladesh is basically free. The labor per shirt in out New Jersey union factory per shirt is 1/12 hour times $40.00 = $3.33 per shirt.
So now the shirt would cost about 3 dollars more. Approx $17.00. OK that sounds like a lot but if you reduce the duties and shipping costs that would reduce the price a dollar to $16.00 per shirt. To me the 15% increase is offset by the decrease in social costs of the lower IQ chronically unemployed....
--and to everyone else it's better to buy the shirt for $2 less, provide a living wage for hundreds of workers, and still have funds left over to feed the "lower IQ chronically unemployed" in Jersey.
And most likely machines would do the work. Yes, they would need some workers.