Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Laid off from her job assembling trucks at Freightliner’s plant in Portland, Ore., she and 800 of her colleagues joined a long line of U.S. manufacturing workers who have lost jobs in recent years. A total of 3.2 million — one in six factory jobs — have disappeared since the start of 2000.
Many people believe those jobs will never come back.
‘‘They are building a multimillion-dollar plant in Mexico and they are going to build the Freightliners down there. They came in and videotaped us at work so they could train the Mexican workers,’’ said Zimmer, 55, who had worked at Freightliner since 1994.
Hmm, I wonder if Dawn was in a union? And if she was why didn't the union "save" their jobs?
I would guess she was in a union, and maybe it was due to the unions constant demands that the company decided they couldn't afford to operate in the U.S any longer.
I want to see more opinions on this,on both sides of the issues.So far I cant help but agree with what I've read yet I still want to form a more solid opinion.
It cannot be denied that American jobs are being lost to companies going overseas.What can we the people do about it?What can we demand from government or non-government to do about it without having our government govern private companies?
Come on, folks. Hannity, Rush, and numerous other Neocon apologists say the economy is doing great; how can it be otherwise? Yeah, most of these new jobs are low paying service sector jobs that most teenagers can do, but come on, we'll fix our economy by eventually selling air conditioners to India, so everything will work out, right? Mega-dittoes...
Once again we are confusing a society issue with a political issue. The economy is indeed doing great by anyones standards, and the title of this subject is somewhat misstated - 3.2m jobs are not gone, they merely shifted to other jobs. Now are some of them McJobs? maybe so, but the solution is not political being that Clinton himself signed in such legistlation as NAFTA.
It's a changing world boys and girls. Technology and logistical improvements have allowed jobs to be done remotely. Companies have to compete globally, that means hiring cheaper labor and moving plants to mexico, or they will go out of business and the result will be the same - McJobs for everyone. That's just a fact of life people now have to accept.
You can't legislate it, you can't tarrif it, you can't vote in one party or another and expect it to change. It's not going to happen. The old assembly line/factory job is dead, we have to face that. What you can do is make sure the U.S. is a leader in productivity and technology. That's what we have to fight for. Right now the U.S. labor force is very productive, and we are certainly a leader in technology, but other countries are catching up. We certainly cannot compete on the cost of labor but if we make that up with productivity and an educated work force we will win this "war". Lets see what happens...
"The economy is changing, its no longer the case you can pick a career and do it for your entire life. Passing a much of laws that isolate the US economy aren't going to make the US more competitive. Americans need to adjust to the new economy realities, that or slowly become economically irrelevant like France."
Yes, most people would be willing to jump ship on their careers, except that every time you do that you have to take out $20K worth of student loans. Who can afford to do that every 10 years, and who has the kind of time you have to deal with to get a completely new degree? Not most americans.
My solution to it all is to make american government a lot more friendly to the small flexible businesses and businessmen. Like having them be able to qualify for halfway decent insurance that they can get for their employees!!!
The days of getting into a big company where you are set for life with a pension are gone. The big companies are revolving doors with their employees, hiring and firing at the same time, all the time.
There are two suggestions to save the american jobs:
1) Stop outsourcing to other countries and let the americans handle the service industry jobs.
Also, Stop all the H1 and other visas which allow other country's people to come here and take away our jobs.
2) Stop buying all the manufacturing stuff "Made in China" to promote american manufacturing.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,327 posts, read 54,350,985 times
Reputation: 40731
Quote:
Originally Posted by spunky1
Hmm, I wonder if Dawn was in a union? And if she was why didn't the union "save" their jobs?
I would guess she was in a union, and maybe it was due to the unions constant demands that the company decided they couldn't afford to operate in the U.S any longer.
I can agree with that somewhat but when we constantly see CEOs of companies that lose money every quarter making $20-30M a year and more it's evident the unions aren't the only reason these companies decide thay can't afford to operate in the US.
I certainly agree with many segments of the various posts on this subject. Many people I have spoken to on this subject mysteriously vision this as someone elses problem. Either they are independently wealthy--believe they have a status that is crashproof or are somewhat ignorant of the eventual impact of this situation. I do believe this to be a social and political issue.
The union issue IMHO is that the dramatic decline of union membership and influence is a slap in the face of the middle-class. While not perfect, unions gave middle America a voice which has been largely silenced by "better boys" in both government and the corporate world.
The idea that manufacturing is only economically possible in the third world is not correct and the decline of manufacturing in the U.S. puts us in a precarious position security-wise as well as economically.
There isn't doubt that world economics have changed but the politics of allowing the priviledged to have their way for a fee to the detriment of the less fortunate is still the same. America is reverting to an era when those protesting unfair labor practices had the police sicced on them and yes, the police beat many of them as on the streets of Baltimore and other cities.
Much of this labor problem has the age old incivilities of the struggle between the haves and have nots in our society---and don't forget plain old American greed.
We're being sold out for corporate profits, by both parties.
Well, nice to see a post that at least recognizes that the dems and republicans passed NAFTA....yeah, that was Bill Clinton and it's takes some seriously blind partisanship to blame this one solely on Bush.
However, please note that WE create the corporate profits. WE shop for the lowest price and don't really care otherwise.
Laid off from her job assembling trucks at Freightliner’s plant in Portland, Ore., she and 800 of her colleagues joined a long line of U.S. manufacturing workers who have lost jobs in recent years. A total of 3.2 million — one in six factory jobs — have disappeared since the start of 2000.
Many people believe those jobs will never come back.
‘‘They are building a multimillion-dollar plant in Mexico and they are going to build the Freightliners down there. They came in and videotaped us at work so they could train the Mexican workers,’’ said Zimmer, 55, who had worked at Freightliner since 1994.
The Post-Journal, Jamestown New York (broken link)
It is going to get worse. Our country is being outsourced outright. It is very upsetting. We are being invaded by Mexicans and they are moving jobs down to Mexico. It is a double whammy. To makle matters even worse, they import skilled and unskilled labor, legally and illegally.
Think Hillary will fix this? HAH! This corporate cronie will make things even worse. She will try to raise taxes so much, she will make sure every American job still in this country will go overseas.
The layoffs at Freightliner had to do with the 2007 federal emissions standards taking effect. Truck sales were drastically cut due to the extra costs to meet the new standards.
These standards were passed on Dec. 21, 2000 when Clinton was president. Blaming this on Bush is typical of the myopic views of some posters on this site.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Save American Jobs - I m 4 it
Job Losses
