As cruel as it might sound- labor is a commodity just like raw materials. If a company or corporation can get it cheaper somewhere else, that's just what they're going to do. Unions and taxes make labor more expensive to a company. If corporations were given tax exempt status or drastically lower taxes, they could afford expensive American labor.
Blame the gov't. Blame the unions. Don't blame the corporations for trying to turn a profit. That is what I and everyone else, as a shareholder(s), demand that they do. That's the way the free market works.
If American labor wants to compete with the greater international labor market, they're going to have to ask themselves what they need to do to make that happen. It's just like anything else. If people buy Hondas and Toyotas because they're cheaper and better cars, Ford is going to have to compete with those guys and do the things necessary to do so. Labor is no different. If the working man doesn't like it, he needs to vote those big spenders like Ted Kennedy out of office. If labor unions don't like it, they can quit supporting social democratic candidates. It's a good thing when corporations leave. They're just pointing out quite graphically that you can't have your cake and eat it too. This is how progress works.
Dollar is going down because foreign investors are spooked by accounting fraud in our major corporations. This fraud is a blow to US prestige and image. You can only foist off trade deficits on foreigners (read suckers) when your nation has a better image. BTW a dirty nuke explosion would also tarnish the image of a powerful United States and force the dollar down .... Boy would the Euros like this.
Labor is not a commodity like raw materials since it has the ability not only to price itself, but also to use the proceeds received for wages earned, to speculate in the free market on the management that employs it.
Yes, for a long time the corporations had it all their own way, controlling all aspects because they were able to deliver both high capital returns and earnings. If that is no longer possible, corporations will have to compete for operating capital. Labor would be wise to invest in companies that provide both earnings and a market for their skills and shun corporations that would trade their labor market for trumped up earnings that never really existed.