before I start my rant let me tell you all that I am a pretty mild person but this has pissed me off to no end, maybe because it hits so close to home!

"Levi Staus on Thursday announced plans to close its four remaining North American manufacturing and finishing plants, with the loss of almost 2,000 jobs.
Bruce Raynor, president of Unite, the largest apparel workers' union in North America, said the job losses and plant closures were the result of US trade policies that allowed companies to "scour the globe for the cheapest, most vulnerable labour" they could find. " This is a quote off of Yahoo news.

The plant I work at told us the EXACT same thing in August, I work for a cable manufacturing plant, We were all told that by the end of Sept begining of Oct that our plant will be used for "prototypes". Right now we have over 200 people working in the plant after everything is said and done it will be reduced to 50 people. All our "normal" production is going to plants in Mexico!

It is no wonder our economy is struggling, our jobs are being sent to other places and we are left with nothing. So these people are on unemployment or welfare now.

America is supposed to be an economic power of the world, how in the hell are we supposed to keep that up if we have NO jobs????

Without jobs we can't buy clothes, food, or even health care (insurance).

I am sorry but I needed to rant a bit and get this off my chest.

thanks y'all
Shel

But the other side of this is the reality that most Americans aren't willing to pay the premium it costs to get made-in-America products. I sure as hell won't pay $50 for Levis.

but with out jobs you can't buy anything!

It's enough to piss off the Pope when these companies pull out of the US & head overseas. I learned recently that Columbia House (tapes, records, cd's, etc) which has been in Indiana since about forever has moved much of their operation to India! What??? Following WWII, the US rebuilt Europe & Japan, and the next you know, we've got foreign steel coming in, and eventually closing virtually all the huge plants we had here. Other companies, one by one have gone too. We've gone from being an industrial giant to a service & information economy. The practice of moving jobs out of this country in such a manner is unethical, and companies should be penalized in some formal manner for doing so. Wish I had an answer.
Polish up your resume & head to Home Depot, FedEx or some other huge company that simply cannot move.

I going to come off like an uncaring asshole for saying this, but basically the U.S. is moving from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, and losing manufacturing jobs is part of the process. Of course it sucks short term when everyone is losing their jobs, but ultimately it works out better this way. All of the people working for me would've been in a factory 30 years ago, but instead they're working with computers and data, which has to be a better way to work.

LionelHutz the only problem with this is that we end up relying on other countrys for or needs. It does help with relations but it also makes us weeker. I do agree with your post we are leaving manufacturing and going into service, but is it for the better?

I don't see it being for the better when the people who are loosing their manufacturing jobs have been working in manufacturing for 20, 30 + yrs and then they are told that they will lose their jobs to other countries, these people will have to go back to school to be retrained, and most of the people have been out of school for that many yrs, and the companies do not want to hire the older people. so without the manufacturing jobs that they had they really have nothing. No health care, no money for food no money for clothes, NOTHING. Some still have morgages to pay and without their jobs that can't even pay that, so then it looks like no roof over their heads either.

I know because I am in that situation!

Shel

Originally posted by mad dog
LionelHutz the only problem with this is that we end up relying on other countrys for or needs. It does help with relations but it also makes us weeker. I do agree with your post we are leaving manufacturing and going into service, but is it for the better?

We rely on them for some things, but then they rely on us for stuff too, like banking, information services, high tech equipment, etc.

Of course this doesn't help out Shelee any.

I going to come off like an uncaring asshole for saying this, but basically the U.S. is moving from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, and losing manufacturing jobs is part of the process. Of course it sucks short term when everyone is losing their jobs, but ultimately it works out better this way. All of the people working for me would've been in a factory 30 years ago, but instead they're working with computers and data, which has to be a better way to work.
So, in essence in about a hundred or so years the only thing an American would have to do is order his/hers immigrant slave around because every job has been slowly moving out of the country since WW2? Hehe

We rely on them for some things, but then they rely on us for stuff too, like banking, information services, high tech equipment, etc.
And weapons.

Shelee, corporations don't give a shit what happens to your family after you are laid off. The only thing you can do is protest with your union and find a new job.

Originally posted by Blibblob
So, in essence in about a hundred or so years the only thing an American would have to do is order his/hers immigrant slave around because every job has been slowly moving out of the country since WW2? Hehe

I said we'd have different jobs, not no jobs.

Originally posted by LionelHutz
We rely on them for some things, but then they rely on us for stuff too, like banking, information services, high tech equipment, etc.

Of course this doesn't help out Shelee any.

Agreed they would rely on us also, (for abortion clinics, and money). I still am alittle old fashion when it comes to relying on other countrys, especially when so many of them allways find fault with us. It all sounds great, the whole world works and lives together, but at this time I still say there are to many differences.

Shelee I am sorry you are going through this, sometimes life can really knock us down. Nothing is forever, time to move on.

Certian cars are made in Mexico too. Check your VIN for a 3 as the first character. It's located driver's side, on top of the dash, at the very base of your windshield. (You must read it from outside of your car.)

Thanks Mad Dog!

I want to share a little bit of good news, we were told this past Friday that we will still be operating (the plant) to the max at least through the end of December.
so at least I can look forward to that. and maybe then in January I can start my life new, new year new life new job etc.

thank you all for your support and warm wishes.
y'all are just great!

Shel

Shelee that is good news, take the extra time and get ready for the change, good luck to you.

Borg I owned a 70's harley motorcycle, on the engine it said MADE IN TIAWAN. This was made when Harley went with AMC. Glad they are back to American made. Those 70's bikes had alot of trouble.

Congrats on the news, Shelee.

Originally posted by mad dog
Shelee that is good news, take the extra time and get ready for the change, good luck to you.

Borg I owned a 70's harley motorcycle, on the engine it said MADE IN TIAWAN. This was made when Harley went with AMC. Glad they are back to American made. Those 70's bikes had alot of trouble.

AMF, not AMC. Had they been made by AMC they would've been even worse!

AMF made some good sporting equipment, but were out of their league trying to make motorcycles. AMC - now there's a name that's nearly out of use. Ramblers did have the first reclining front seats, however, and lots of folks born in the late 50's & later were conceived in them.

Thanks LionelHutz I just relized I did that. AMF AMC both = junk maybe that is why I got them screwed up. Both had there good points though, AMC did make a solid rear end for trucks(jeep) alot of guys still travel the junkyards in search of them.

I grew up in the city where AMC made most of their cars. Everyone in my high school drove AMCs, or later, Renaults (which they also made there). Luckily I was spared.

My dad used to drive an 83 AMC Spirit. Piece of crap car. He drove a Yugo at one point, too. And all this is recent, not like 15 years ago.

Both of those were near-junk brand new. Hard to imagine driving one today - both qualify as rolling wrecks.

There is a movie that has almost all yugo's in it, "Drowning Mona" I think. Bet Middler{sp} is in it. I always wanted to see someone put a yugo on a 4wheel drive undercarriage, big V-8, loud mufflers the whole 9 yards.

There is going to be jobs in the US, but even service jobs are moving off-shore.

Protectionism amounts to just a huge tax on the US public - take steel for example, the susidies required to keep the jobs in the US if divided by the workers involved - equals many times more the salary of each worker. It'd be cheaper and better for the consumer just to pay the money to the workers and let them sit at home!

Cheaper goods means we have more money to spend in the economy. The manufacturing margin of goods made is always small anyway - it's the end marketer that makes the money - so who cares if the goods are made in China.

The transition means that education becomes even more important than ever as non-skilled jobs dissapear.