|
|
Industry Stumbles, Jarring Jobs Outlook
"The economy is standing on only one leg -- housing,"
said Ethan Harris, co-chief economist at Lehman Brothers. "It's not the
most stable of platforms to be building growth from." (Reuters, March 3, 2003)
WWW.TRADEALERT.ORG
Back in 1993, Ross Perot warned us of "the giant sucking sound" of American jobs
going to Mexico after the signing of the NAFTA treating.
Well, in retrospect, it seems as though Ross was only about half-right. In the
last two years, we have lost TWO MILLION manufacturing jobs, but not to Mexico,
we're losing them to CHINA, INDIA, and other third world countries,
primarily in the Far East. Back in 1950, manufacturing accounted for about 48%
of the GNP. In 2001, it had shrank to just 18%, and it is expected to retreat to
just 10 or 11% within the next 10 years!
Right about now, you're probably thinking, "Why do I care about manufacturing
jobs? "I cut hair", or, "I work in a bank," etc..
Well, it's like this, when people lose good paying manufacturing jobs (VP's,
managers, engineers, technicians), then they don't put their money in your bank,
build that house that you build, buy that car you sell, go to that expensive
hair salon where you work, etc.. These factories also no longer buy their
supplies locally.
"Although it became fashionable to imagine that America could flourish
as a deindustrialized society, manufacturing remains crucial for prosperity. The
average production-sector job creates three times as many additional employment
opportunities as the average service job." David Friedman, The Atlantic,
January/February 2003.
And it's not just manufacturing jobs that we're losing. We're now starting to
lose technology jobs at the rate of about 20,000 per year (mostly to India), and
service industry jobs are beginning to weaken as well. Speaking of which,
whatever happened to this "service based economy" that we were promised? I'll
tell you, we're losing the industries to service!
We've already lost our electronics industry to China. We've lost our steel
industry to Japan. We're losing information technology to India. We're beginning
to lose our automotive sector to China. We're losing our aircraft industry to
the EEU subsidized Airbus. We're even losing our movie industry to Canada and
Eastern Europe.
"Textiles have lost 220,000 jobs in the last decade, a third of the workforce.
Apparels 400,000 lost jobs a 40% reduction. 148,000 textile jobs lost in the
past year, more than 100 mills closed." Boston Globe January 6, 2002
What's going to be left?
According to Policy Matters, the state of California alone
has lost 287,700 jobs
between March 2001 and March 2003!
Not only that, we lose their tax contributions (which build roads and schools).
Some even become a tax burden when they can't pay their bills! This will trickle
into most every corner of our economy.
So, this effects everyone - that means you. Yeah, they can lower interest rates
to stimulate the economy temporarily (everyone goes out and buys a house and a
car at the same time), but at the end of the day, what's left? Where is the new
money coming from? Mark my words, if something isn't done about this problem,
this country's economy is going to come to a grinding halt.
But why is no one not talking about these problems? The answer is simple, the
multi-national corporations that have bought and paid for our politicians and
our media are the same ones that are moving their factories to China!
NEW:
Find out how your representative voted!
But don't take my word for it, take a look at some of the headlines below:
Rubbermaid Shuts Down Wooster Plant
PLASTICS NEWS (December 15, 2003) -- When the Wooster plant closes, wiping out
850 factory jobs, it will mark the end of one of the largest plastics plants in the United
States. The company plans to relocate about 400 white-collar Home Products
headquarters employees either to other plants or a new, low-cost facility.
TYCO to Shutter 4 Plants
PLASTICS NEWS (December 11, 2003) -- After evaluating many of the holdings
it bought in the late 1990s, Tyco International Ltd. is closing four film
extrusion plants and looking at more cuts. The manufacturing conglomerate
immediately is shuttering facilities in Woodland, Calif., and Thomasville,
N.C., and by Feb. 8 will close plants in Mansfield, Ohio, and Fairmount,
Minn., said spokesman Jay Pomeroy.
TYCO Cutting 140 Jobs at PA Hanger Plant
PLASTICS NEWS (November 20, 2003) -- Citing a shift offshore by many garment
manufacturers, Tyco International Inc. will end manufacturing at its Ringtown
facility and lay off about 140 people. The injection molder said it will
maintain distribution and customer service in Ringstown, retaining about 20
employees. The plant made garment hangers.
October Job Cuts Deepest in 12 Months
MIAMI HERALD (November 5, 2003) -- Job cuts announced by U.S. companies
more than doubled in October from the previous month, providing more evidence
that the nation's economy is in a period of jobless expansion.
Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm, said
Tuesday companies announced plans to eliminate 171,874 positions in Octoer,
compared with 76,506 in September. It was the highest monthly level since
October 2002, when 176,010 job cuts were announced.
Hardest-hit was the automotive industry, which announced plans to eliminate
28,363 jobs in October. That was followed by the retail sector, which plans to
cut 21,169 positions, and the telecommunications industry, which said it would
slash 21,030 jobs.
Massive Tyco Cuts Include 1,900 Jobs in Plastics Unit
PLASTICS NEWS (November 4, 2003) -- Tyco International Inc. is making
sweeping operational changes, including a plan to close 30 plastics and
adhesives facilities and lay off 1,900 workers in that segment.
Overall, the company will close 219 facilities, many of them in its fire and
security segment and cut 7,200 jobs. Tyco also announced plans to exit 50 other
operations, none of them in the plastics and adhesives unit, and to sell its
Tyco Global Network undersea fiber-optic cable operation.
China Moving to Export Cars
WASHINGTON TIMES (November 3, 2003) -- China, the world's dominant
manufacturer of toys, shoes and furniture, wants to export cars and compete
internationally. Chinese automakers, mainly local companies in joint ventures with
multinationals, are producing the same cars available worldwide for the Chinese
domestic market.
However, lured by workers earning as little as 50 cents an hour, western auto
executives say they have no choice but to invest heavily in China or risk being
left behind.
Plastics Firms Hammering Washington Over China
PLASTICS NEWS (October 31, 2003) -- Plastics executives are urging the
U.S. government to address China’s policy of pegging its currency to the
American dollar, which some U.S. economists say keeps China’s money
15-40 percent undervalued and makes Chinese exports cheaper. Interest in
the topic is picking up in Washington, although views on whether
that will result in meaningful changes vary widely.
PolyOne Reports Loss, Announces Plant Closings
PLASTICS NEWS (October 30, 2003) -- PolyOne Corp. announced the
closing of elastomers and performance additives plants in DeForest, Wis.,
and Wynne, Ark.. The closings will eliminate 230 jobs and provide
Avon Lake-based PolyOne with pretax savings of $7.5 million annually,
officials said in an Oct. 29 news release.
PolyOne also remains on pace to open its third Chinese location by late 2004, in
Zhongshan. The site will focus on color concentrates and engineering material
compounds, officials said. PolyOne already runs plants in Shanghai and Suzhou,
as well as a plant in Singapore and a joint venture in Thailand.
ICO To Shutter Texas Facility
PLASTICS NEWS (October 20, 2003) -- Compounder ICO Inc. will close its plant in Lovelady,
Texas, by the end of the year as part of a cost-cutting program at the Houston-based firm.
Work and most of the equipment from the Lovelady plant will be shifted to a
site in China, Texas, Biro said in a recent telephone interview. Biro declined
to specify how many jobs will be lost in the closing or to estimate annual
savings.
Delphi Closing Three Plants, Cutting 8,500 Jobs
PLASTICS NEWS (October 17, 2003) -- Automotive supplier Delphi Corp. is
pushing restructuring plans once again, cutting 8,500 jobs worldwide and
preparing to close three North American plants.
Overall, the firm expects to cut 5,000 hourly jobs in the United States, 500
salaried jobs and another 3,000 elsewhere.
China Takes Heat from Lawmakers on Loss of Jobs
WALL STREET JOURNAL (October 2, 2003) -- U.S. lawmakers took to
the soapbox to blame China for lost manufacturing jobs - a round of
Beijing-bashing that could foreshadow the tenor of next year's election
debates.
Representatives from both parties took turns complaining that China's
policy of preventing its currency, the yuan, from rising against the dollar gives
China an unfair advantage over U.S. companies. Lawmakers questioned
whether the Bush administration is doing enough to force Beijing to change.
Will Your Job Move to India?
MSN Money Central (September 30, 2003) -- Software giant Oracle said
it's moving 2,000 developer jobs from the United States to India, doubling
the number of developers it has on payroll there. Then Hewlett-Packard announced
plans to close a customer-service operation in Florida and send the
operation's 1,200 jobs overseas, again to India.
Though negligible when compared to the sheer numbers of job losses in
manufacturing, the shifts by two technology companies are alarming for what
they likely foretell: no less than the relocation of millions of high-end
technology and service jobs from this country to less expensive foreign
venues. In the process, there will be a redefining of what constitutes
“safe” employment in America..
Industry's Trade Deficit Skyrockets
PLASTICS NEWS (September 25, 2003) -- The U.S. plastics
processing industry’s trade position has worsened
dramatically in the past five years, with U.S. manufacturers increasingly
losing out to imports in areas such as automobiles, audio and video
equipment and institutional furniture, according to a new study from the
Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. The report shows the industry had a
trade deficit of $13.9 billion in 2002, compared with just $4.2 billion in
1997.
Unkindliest Cut
FORBES (September 15, 2003) -- Twenty years ago there were roughly 1,200 diamond
cutters and polishers in Manhattan's gritty Diamond District on 47th Street.
Their numbers have been dwindling for years, as New York's high costs have
pushed such work to cheap-labor meccas like India and China. Today there are
only 300 or so left, in a dozen or so firms, specializing in large, expensive
rocks.
Detroit's Big Three Are Heading for a Pileup
BUSINESS WEEK (September 1, 2003) -- The Big Three American car companies began
talks with the United Auto Workers in July to renew their four-year labor
contracts, and they intend to conclude new arrangements by mid-September.
Although critical issues such as job security, pensions, and health-care
benefits are at stake, the final settlement is likely to be a relatively modest
compromise. These negotiations, however, could be a prelude to a far deeper and
politically contentious restructuring of the industry. Before this decade is
over, the U.S. auto business may go through some of the agonizing downsizing and
even bankruptcies seen lately in steel and airlines. . .
When the day of reckoning comes, two options will emerge: bankruptcy and
bailout. Some in Washington will want natural market forces to handle the
adjustment to an auto industry that is dramatically downsized and predominantly
Japanese-owned. They would accept a bankruptcy or two, allowing the severing of
contractual obligations to retirees, as well as major production outsourcing to
China and other places where costs are much lower.
Bush to Target Economy [Ohio lost 118,500 mfg jobs]
Only California, Texas and New York have put more people on unemployment than
Ohio's 155,161 residents between March 2001 and July, the latest numbers
available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only Colorado, Oregon and New
Jersey have higher per-capita numbers of folks joining unemployment.
Economists say the blame for Ohio's job losses falls squarely on the state's
manufacturing sector, which has seen mammoth job losses.
Policy Matters, a Cleveland-based think tank that studies economic issues, has
released data that show Ohio lost 118,500 manufacturing jobs between March 2001
and March 2003 -- more than in all other employment sectors combined.
Outsourcing Jobs: Is it Bad?
BUSINESS WEEK (August 25, 2003) -- These are anxious times for U.S. workers.
Sure, the recovery seems to be getting under way. Yet hardly a week goes by
without another report of a batch of high-paying, white-collar jobs getting
exported to far cheaper locales such as India, China, or the Philippines. . .
The extent to which industries are moving a wide array of mid-level professional
jobs offshore is troubling. We're talking about computers and other high tech,
business services, and finance. Add those industries up, along with factory
jobs, and you find that one out of three private-sector jobs is now at risk of
being outsourced.
Intesys Wrapping Up Relocation of Arizona Operations
PLASTICS NEWS (Aug. 26, 2003) -- InteSys Technologies Inc. is completing
relocation of its Gilbert manufacturing operations to plants in Fort Worth,
Texas, and Monterrey, Mexico. InteSys has shifted most of its cellular telephone
production for Nokia Oyj to Monterrey, with the remainder going to Fort Worth.
U.S.: A Yawning Trade Gap Could Swallow the Recovery
BUSINESS WEEK (August 25, 2003) -- After a year and a half of fits and starts,
the U.S. economy finally seems on its way to a real recovery. Heading into the
second half, consumers are spending more freely. Businesses are loosening up
their capital budgets, and skimpy inventories and rising orders are lifting
industrial activity. Sounds promising, right?
But there's a catch. True, the outlook for U.S. demand is the brightest in
years, as tax cuts, lower interest rates, healthier financial conditions, and
reduced uncertainty work their magic. But overall demand is getting little help
from outside the U.S., and much of the pickup in American spending is going to
imports. The question: Can the U.S. be the locomotive for world growth without
derailing its own recovery?
GOP Worries Grow on Job Losses
“Manufacturing jobs have been disappearing,” Manzullo said. “A lot of people
thought they were going to come back. Some people followed (Federal Reserve
chairman Alan) Greenspan’s theory — which is not working — that what you lose in
higher-value manufacturing you’re going to pick up in high-value service jobs.
Now those jobs are going, too. America is being cored out to the bone.”
Manzullo cited a report from National Association of Manufacturers which said
last month, “If the U.S. manufacturing base continues to shrink at its present
rate and the critical mass is lost, the manufacturing innovation process will
shift to other global centers. Once that happens, a decline in U.S. living
standards in the future is virtually assured.”
I.B.M. Explores Shift of White-Collar Jobs Overseas
NEW YORK TIMES (July 22, 2003) -- With American corporations under increasing
pressure to cut costs and build global supply networks, two senior IBM officials
told their corporate colleagues around the world in a recorded conference call
that I.B.M. needed to accelerate its efforts to move white-collar, often
high-paying, jobs overseas even though that might create a backlash among
politicians and its own employees.
Sonoco Products may close 18 more plants
PLASTICS NEWS, HARTSVILLE, S.C. (July 18, 2:35 p.m. EDT) -- Sonoco Products Co.
plans to close as many as 18 plants by the end of the year to cut costs by $60
million. The Hartsville company did not say which plants it will close or which
segments will be affected. Sonoco, a maker of rigid and flexible plastic
packaging in addition to paperboard, just completed a restructuring that cut 18
plants and eliminated 1,100 jobs.
Recession Is Over; Jobs Aren't Trickling Down
NEW YORK TIMES (July 182, 2003) -- The recession that began in March 2001 ended
eight months later, the National Bureau of Economic Research, an independent
group that tracks the business cycle, concluded in a report released yesterday.
"We've declared victory over the recession, and we're still laying off a couple
hundred thousand workers a month," said Representative Pete Stark of California,
ranking Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee. "If it weren't so painful for
so many people who are out of work, it would be hilarious. But it isn't. It's
not funny."
Waterbury shuttering Vt. injection molding site
PLASTICS NEWS, RANDOLPH, VT. (July 18, 2:15 p.m. EDT) -- Waterbury Cos. Inc.,
one of the oldest U.S. injection molders, plans to close its Randolph molding
plant in the next six months. The company molds professional hygiene and
janitorial products. President Carl D. Contadini informed the 70 employees of
the plan July 17. The Waterbury, Conn.-based firm did not say where it is moving
the work.
Portola Packaging closing three U.S. plants
PLASTICS NEWS, SAN JOSE, CALIF. (July 18, 11 a.m. EDT) -- Closure molder Portola
Packaging Inc. is cutting costs by closing three plants. The firm said in a
recent financial statement that it will shut plants in San Jose and Chino,
Calif., and one in Sumter, S.C. The company will be moving production from those
sites to a new plant in Tolleson, Ariz., and an existing plant in Kingsport,
Tenn.
Job Exports May Imperil U.S. Programmers
SAN JOSE (Sun Jul 13, 2:16 PM ET) Roughly 27,000 technology jobs moved overseas
in 2000, according to a November study by Forrester Research. It predicts that
number will mushroom to 472,000 by 2015 if companies continue to farm out
computer work at today's frenzied pace.
According to Forrester, companies in the United States and Europe will spend 28
percent of their information technology budgets on overseas work in the next two
years.
Boeing, Dell and Motorola have opened software development centers in Russia.
Intel employs 400 full-time Russian software research engineers and nearly 200
others in marketing and sales, wireless Internet access and modem projects.
Volkswagen to nearly double China output
REUTERS (July 07, 2003) -- Volkswagen AG and its Chinese partners said
on Monday they will nearly double their capacity in the world's fastest-growing car
market to 1.36 million vehicles by 2007.
The expansion, in concert with similar plans by its international rivals, could
further fuel a price war. Volkswagen's planned capacity alone will be more than
a third larger than the entire existing Chinese market and would make up nearly
a third of Volkswagen's global output.
GM says plans to ramp up capacity in China
REUTERS (July 02, 2003) -- General Motors plans to ramp up output at
its main car making joint venture in Shanghai, the company said on Wednesday,
joining an expansion race among foreign firms that analysts fear could foment a
damaging glut.
The China Daily reported on Wednesday GM would invest two billion yuan ($240
million) to double capacity at an existing five-year old plant in Shanghai,
raising maximum output by an additional 100,000 cars a year.
The venture's board had already approved the building of a factory to open by
2005, said an executive at Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., GM's partner in
the $1.5 billion joint venture.
Carmakers push suppliers into China
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE (June 30, 2003) -- European suppliers
are under pressure from Ford and General Motors to produce more parts in China.
"General Motors and Ford are trying to source billions from China," said Udo
Nenning, a director at Pierburg, part of Germany's Kolbenschmidt Pierburg group.
"The pressure will be enormous."
Suppliers say most European automakers want their suppliers to make more parts
in China to support vehicle operations the automakers are creating there.
Offshore IT Jobs
CNN (May 2, 2003) -- "By 2004, more than 80 percent of U.S. executive boardrooms
will have discussed offshore sourcing, and more than 40 percent of U.S.
enterprises will have completed some type of pilot or will be sourcing IT
(information technology) services," Gartner Inc., a technology consulting firm,
said in a study late last year.
Micromold morphs its markets to replace work gone overseas
PLASTICS NEWS, RIVERSIDE, CALIF (April 21, 2003) -- ``A huge percentage of
our [computer and electronics] work went to China in the matter of a year or so,''
owner and President Robert Aust said in a recent office interview. Aust cofounded
the business in 1979.
SPI planning lobbying day about China
PLASTICS NEWS, WASHINGTON (April 21, 2003) -- The Society of the Plastics
Industry Inc. plans a lobbying day with member companies to stress to the U.S.
government that China should meet its obligations under the World Trade
Organization.
In particular, SPI is alarmed by what it said is the Chinese government's
decision to manipulate its currency to keep it undervalued by 40 percent, which
SPI said violates WTO rules. China joined the WTO in early 2002, and SPI said it
also wants to see China meet WTO market access and intellectual property
provisions.
Dear Mr. President: We need help!
PLASTICS NEWS (April 07, 2003) -- Mr. Bush, it is a widely held fear
and my opinion that many of our small manufacturing and processing
companies are now in crisis mode and soon will close. It is clear to
many of us that the tool and die industry, injection molding and other
plastic processing industries, label making, packaging in
general, and many other similar industries are very close to extinction (just as
steel, textiles, footwear, electronics, telecommunications, personal computers,
and automobile components have largely already gone ``offshore''). I met
recently with U.S. congressmen Phil English and John Peterson, in my office, and
they both agreed that this is a significant crisis situation and have encouraged
me to try to arrange a meeting with the Secretary of Commerce.
Perlos plans to cut 120 jobs
PLASTICS NEWS (March 17, 2003) -- The company also has opened
new plants in Hungary and China, in response to moves by original
equipment manufacturers to produce in those lower-cost regions.
However, Perlos stressed that its decision to invest in foreign
production units has not negatively affected the operation of plants at home.
Plastics sites among 300 Tyco targets for closing
PLASTICS NEWS (March 14, 1:45 p.m. EST) -- Tyco International Ltd.
plans to close many of its plastics facilities, part of a larger strategy to
shutter 300 plants by 2006. Tyco said it wants to shift many of its operations
to low-cost regions in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Officials said plastics and
adhesives operations are high on the list for consideration (Plastics News,
March 14, 2003).
Slowing Service Sector Growth a Bad Omen
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The huge U.S.
services sector slowed its pace of growth last month and the number of jobs in
the sector fell, reinforcing views of a U.S. economy struggling with a hangover
from the boom years and, now, fear of war.
Nypro planning 55 U.S. layoffs
PLASTICS NEWS (February 17, 2003) -- Nypro Inc. plans to cut about 55
jobs in the United States, including 40 at its headquarters in Clinton,
Mass., a move the firm blames on a poor economy and its
transition to more contract manufacturing.
The changes in the United States, however, are dwarfed by the company's rapid
growth overseas. Nypro has added some 2,000 workers worldwide since mid-2001,
giving it 10,000 employees around the globe. Most of that growth came in China,
with some in Mexico, Cotton said.
Restructured Trend plans facility in China
PLASTICS NEWS, CHINO, CALIF (February 10, 2003) -- Newly structured Trend
Technologies LLC plans to establish a plant in China by July and may add tooling
capacity in Singapore.
Even Knowledge Workers Aren't Safe
BUSINESS WEEK (February 3, 2003) -- All kinds of knowledge work can be done
almost anywhere. "You will see an explosion of work going overseas," says
Forrester Research Inc. analyst John C. McCarthy. He goes so far as to predict
at least 3.3 million white-collar jobs and $136 billion in wages will shift from
the U.S. to low-cost countries by 2015.
Nypro slates two more plants for China
PLASTICS NEWS, PHOENIX (February 03, 2003) -- Nypro Inc. is launching two more
plants in China, including its first toolmaking facility there, as it continues
to pull sizable new business to that country.
The Clinton, Mass., company opened the mold-building facility in Suzhou, China,
in late January and will start a painting facility in Suzhou by the end of
February, Nypro President Brian Jones said Jan. 27 during the Plastics News
Executive Forum in Phoenix.
Pick Something to Move Offshore Today!
BUSINESS WEEK (February 3, 2003) -- In a recent PowerPoint presentation,
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT ) Senior Vice-President Brian Valentine--the No. 2 exec in
the company's Windows unit--urged managers to "pick something to move offshore
today." In India, said the briefing, you can get "quality work at 50% to 60% of
the cost. That's two heads for the price of one."
Imports are Twice Exports
MANUFACTURING NEWS (February 3, 2003) -- The United States now imports almost
twice the amount of goods that it exports (goods exports for November 2002: $58
billion; imports, $102 billion). Two years ago, the United States was exporting
about $10 billion more per month.
Outsourcing Services
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (January 30, 2003) -- Companies like GE, Oracle, British
Airways, Conseco, IBM, McKinsey, Ford, Citigroup and Microsoft are outsourcing
thousands of U.S. jobs to India, attracted by an educated workforce with 250
million English speakers and lower costs. "Over the next 15 years, 3.3 million
services industry jobs and $ 136 billion in wages will move offshore to
countries like India, Russia, China, and the Philippines," Forrester Research
said in a report.
Turn ‘free trade’ into fair trade
PLASTICS NEWS (December 2002) -- Jason L. White, Innovative Design & Manufacturing Inc.
"I was shocked to find out the Chinese pay a 3 percent tariff to import their
products to America. We, on the other hand pay a 10 percent tariff plus a 17
percent value-added tax to export our goods to China! Free trade?"
British firm moving production to China
PLASTICS NEWS (December 09, 2002) -- Baby-care products maker
Jackel International Ltd. plans to shift most of the
plastics molding at its plant in Cramlington, England, to the firm's Chinese
production facility, cutting 98 United Kingdom jobs.
Tyco closing Kentucky plant
PLASTICS NEWS (November 18, 2002) -- Less than three years
after acquiring the business, troubled conglomerate Tyco
International Ltd. is closing a 180-employee plastics cutlery and film plant in
Louisville, Ky.
The shutdown will begin Dec. 2 and should be completed by the end of January,
officials said. Employees were told of the decision in September. Tyco, with its
U.S. base in Exeter, N.H., acquired the business in mid-2000 from Amcel Corp. of
Watertown, Mass.
Film equipment and production - mostly of trash bags - will be handled at Tyco
blown film plants in Macedon, N.Y.; Thomasville, N.C.; and Sioux Falls, S.D.
Some of the Louisville site's cutlery production will be moved to a Tyco plant
in Breman, Ga., with the remainder being outsourced from China.
Goodyear? No, a Very Bad Year.
OMAHA WORLD HERALD (October 19, 2002) -- The Akron, Ohio-based company
[Goodyear] will replace $18-an-hour employees at its Lincoln plant with workers
at a new facility in Mexico, who probably make no more than $12.77 a day.
Goodyear said Friday that it will begin construction immediately on a plant at
Delicias, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, that will begin producing rubber
automotive hoses by 2004.
Crash Course
LA TIMES (October 22, 2002) -- The semiconductor is one of the sophisticated,
high-value products that form the cornerstone of an advanced economy. Chinese
officials believe that mastery of the 250-step production process for the chips
will teach factory managers and engineers the skills needed to lift China into
the top tier of industrial powers. With the single-minded determination it once
focused on ideological crusades, the government has embarked on a crash program
to develop a world-class semiconductor industry, using tax breaks, free land and
other incentives to attract foreign companies and know-how.
China's Cheating Hurting U.S. Farmers
NEWSMAX.COM (October 21, 2002) -- "China's admission to the WTO was
supposed to be a boon for ranchers and farmers around the world; the U.S.,
for instance, was expected to sell an additional $2 billion a year in farm products
to China by 2005.
"That's not going to happen," a Western agriculture expert in Beijing told
Forbes.
What did happen, James Sumner, president of the USA Poultry & Egg Export
Council told Forbes, is that U.S. poultry producers have lost about $200 million
in business to China this year because of red tape and other nontariff barriers.
And it happened because "China's adherence to the deal has been pretty
dicey," Phillip Laney, the country director for China for the American Soybean
Association told Forbes. "They're playing technical games."
Not Made in the USA
ASSOCIATED PRESS (October 8, 2002) -- Increasingly, the consumer goods Americans
crave, from toys to clothing, come from overseas. Ninety percent of all toys and
shoes sold in the United States are now foreign-made.
Polymer Corp. closing Ind. mold-making facility
PLASTICS NEWS, INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 4, 9:20 a.m. EDT) -- Medical processor Polymer
Corp. is closing its Indianapolis mold-making plant in the face of stiff
overseas competition. The firm is exiting the custom mold-making business.
Bemis laying off about 200 at PE film plant
PLASTICS NEWS, MINNEAPOLIS (Oct. 4, 10:05 a.m. EDT) -- A decline in polyethylene
film work at Bemis’ plant in Terre Haute, Ind., has led the company to lay off
close to 200 people there.
United Plastics moving more work to China
PLASTICS NEWS, WESTMONT, ILL. (Oct. 3, 5 p.m. EDT) -- United Plastics Group Inc.
is laying off close to half the work force at its Bensenville, Ill., injection
molding facility, shifting work to plants where more capacity is needed. The
company already has transferred 16 injection presses in Bensenville to its new
facility in Suzhou, China, where the bulk of business from the Bensenville
facility has gone. The firm will lay off 120.
Intertape shifting some production to Mexico
PLASTICS NEWS, MONTREAL (Oct. 3, 5:10 p.m. EDT) -- Intertape Polymer Group Inc.
is consolidating flexible bulk container production in Piedras Negras, Mexico,
to become more competitive and to cut costs. Intertape estimates it can save
about US$3 million pretax annually by relocating production from Rayne, La., and
Edmundston, New Brunswick. It expects to implement the changes by late November.
Champion Plastics closes, 140 workers lose jobs
PLASTICS NEWS, KETTERING, OHIO (Oct. 2, 5:10 p.m. EDT) -- Injection molder
Champion Plastics Inc. closed its doors Sept. 28, ending its six-month bid to
emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a wiser, rejuvenated company.
PolyOne slates $6 million for growth in Asia this year
PLASTICS NEWS, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND (Oct. 2, 8:50 a.m. EDT) -- Even as it works
to complete a costly and complex corporate restructuring, PolyOne Corp. said it
will spend more than $6 million this year to upgrade and expand operations in
Asia. Earlier this year the Cleveland-based resin compounding and distribution
giant opened a sales office and customer support lab in Shenzhen, China.
Hedstrom moving more production to China
PLASTICS NEWS, ASHLAND, OHIO (Sept. 20, 2:50 p.m. EDT) -- Hedstrom Corp. is
outsourcing nearly 50 percent of its play-ball production to China, a move
officials call necessary for survival.
Dexter Shoe to sell off U.S. molding assets
PLASTICS NEWS, DEXTER, MAINE (Sept. 11, 9:45 a.m. EDT) --
The last remains of U.S. shoe production by Dexter Shoe
Co. will be gone by the end of September. The shoemaker will try to sell
machinery at a Sept. 24 auction, including injection molding machines and
polyurethane injection systems.
The company cited foreign competition when it closed the plant at the end of
last year. Dexter´s shoes now are made entirely abroad, primarily in China.
US layoffs mount—68,000 lost factory jobs in August
WSWS.ORG (September 7, 2002) -- Layoffs in both manufacturing and the service
sector continued last month at near record rates, giving the lie to claims by
both government economists and private financial analysts that the world’s
largest economy is well into a recovery.
While stocks traded modestly upward September 6 on the strength of a monthly
Labor Department report showing a slightly lower than expected unemployment
rate, a series of economic indicators showed the slashing of jobs in every major
sector continuing with even sharper cuts anticipated in coming months.
Manufacturing Jobs Hardest Hit
FORBES (July 12, 2002) -- Three-quarters of the jobs lost in the private sector
have been in the goods-producing sector of the economy. America lost more than 1
million manufacturing jobs in the nine months from March 2001, and more than a
third as many again in the following six months. Put another way, the most
recent recession destroyed one in every 13 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. The
recession of the early 1990s destroyed barely one in 25.
Cheap Chinese Labor
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (August 4, 2002) -- In the low-cost producer stakes, there is
only one serious player: China. With a population of 1.3bn and wage rates just 5
percent of those in the US or Japan - and even a third of those in Mexico - no
one can compete. It is the outright winner in the globalization game.
Candy Man Can't
WALL STREET JOURNAL (February 14, 2002) -- Plant upgrades, industry experts say,
will save some jobs, but only for the strongest companies. "At the end of the
day," says Tom Ward, president of Kansas City-based Russell Stover Candies Inc.,
"there will be literally only a handful of manufacturers left in the U.S."
Textile Mill Crisis
AP ONLINE (January 31, 2002) -- Last year [2001] , 103 textile mills closed and
almost 67,000 jobs were lost. Since Sept. 11, the crisis worsened when
bankruptcies triggered the loss of nearly 24,000 textile jobs.
Mississippi Textile Jobs
ASSOCIATED PRESS (January 18, 2002) -- State economist Phil Pepper told
lawmakers that Mississippi had 43,000 sewing jobs in 1990 and has 13,000 now. He
said most of those jobs probably went to other countries that pay lower wages.
Many Mississippians put out of work by factory closings are limited by their
education and job skills, he said.
Farmers Lose in Free Trade
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR (January 15, 2002) -- US citrus growers have struggled
to sell their products abroad while citrus imports to the US have risen ten-fold
over the past six years. Imports of Mexican meats, eggs, fruits, and vegetables
have almost doubled since 1994.
Ford Cutting 35,000 Jobs
CNN/MONEY (January 11, 2002) -- Ford Motor Co. said Friday it is cutting 35,000
jobs worldwide and closing five plants in North America as the No. 2 automaker
struggles to cut costs and boost profits.
The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker also slashed its dividend for the second
time in a year and said it will take $4.1 billion in charges as part of the
plan, mostly for the write down of assets.
Black & Decker
WASHINGTON POST (January 2, 2002) -- Black & Decker Corp., the nation's No. 1
manufacturer of power tools, announced yesterday that it would shut down three
manufacturing plants and move production to low-cost locations in Mexico, China
and the Czech Republic. The Towson-based company will also cut about 450 jobs at
its plant in Easton, Md. The aggressive cost cutting -- the company plans to
eliminate 2,400 positions in the United States at its highest-cost facilities in
the next three years -- was an admission by the company that the rise of global
competition in manufacturing, especially from China, has taken its toll.
Boeing Cuts Jobs
ASSOCIATED PRESS (January 2, 2002) -- Boeing plans to cut 30,000 jobs by the end
of 2002, economists believe that for every Boeing job lost, another 1.7 jobs are
lost in related supply and retail sectors.
Steel Bankruptcies
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER (December 8, 2001) -- Since 1998, 25 American steel companies
have filed for bankruptcy.
Motorola in China
WASHINGTON POST (November 25, 2001) -- Motorola which has eliminated 42,900 jobs
this year, invested $3.4 billion in China over the same period.
|
