Brother-in-law was laid off today

[mosgood]

Originally posted by TweetyBird
>>Don't blame WalMart, Blame the masses for not paying for the $135.95 toaster. Walmart should Not be in business because the consumer is demanding the price? Somehow the US should subsidise the toaster maybe? Or Force the import fees on the China product and tack on 130 bucks to artificially create a comperable priced toaster?
<<

I'm just asking for a big red label on any imported item stating exactly how many American jobs were lost in its manufacture. If WalMart is strictly price and demand, I'm sure they won't mind letting people know how many of the products on their shelves are made in China.

Perhaps a big blue label on American made items, and how many jobs it created in its manufacture. See, I think more people WOULD buy American if the choice was simply laid out. WalMart's business is obscurring the choice.

IMO ( i say that because some of you will be warming up the jets and loading the napalm soon) .....

A big red label won't do a thing in the long run.  It won't take long before people won't care because they won't be able to afford the more expensive "american" product because the rest of the world is buying the cheaper one.  So the american company that employs americans and pays them more, just took a hit on the world market because less countires are buying there products and now the company needs to either, move jobs to china to make cheaper goods or lower thier costs in operating in the U.S. to compete (drop wages).


There really isn't a good way out of this.  China has cheaper labor because it has a population that doesn't NEED to be paid more.

American's spend a buttload of money to sustain our quality of life and demand that our elected officials do whatever they can to better the quality of life, or they are out.  


How much less does a chinaman need to live on compared to an american?

How many chinaman have a car?  Pay car insurance?  Hell pay health insurance (i really don't know),

The wages that american's require to keep thier quality of life IS the problem Not destroying free trade.  If we do that, we are undercutting a big motivator of business... competition as well as only delaying the inevitable.  Cutting off supplies of cheaper costing products will not stand very long with the american public anyways.

I'm really starting to worry that america has stretch how high the average quality of life standard can go with our current political setup and will soon be rubberbanded back to a much lower QofL very soon.

[lazs2]

well... I might be part of the problem... I will do just about anything these days in order not to fly... Flying has become about the worst traveling experiance a person can have... packed and hard to get to and security that is bizzare and intrusive and the feeling of wasted time..  it is a singularly uncomfortable experiance for me.

If I never get on another commercial flight I will be happy.

lazs

[Airhead]

Originally posted by mosgood
your right.   ok

...No, you were right- I reread the thread this morning, and I came accross as insensitive. I should have said nothing at all or started a seperate thread to stand on my Labor soapbox.

[ROC]

No Airhead, you can't start a thread to get a specific response, they evolve when the right/wrong buttons are pushed and take on a life of their own.

Sparks has good points, and I know his base, hell many of the Unions supported my election when I ran, based on the working conditions I provide and encourage.

I do, of course, have more points however at this moment I am at the office getting the crews ready to go out to a job site.  They asked me if they could work some OT before the holidays, and I agreed.  I can't wait to get done so I can create more sparks
Yes, the work needs to get done, and Yes, it could be done during the week, but I am being compassionate and letting them earn a few xtra bucks.  God I am evil.

Mind you, yes I know it does help out in the long run, by easing the pressure we are under, but I don't have to.  I could just as easily put the pressure on the normal work day, but it's in the budget and I have opted to come in on a weekend, while the family is home, warm, watching Harry Potter over breakfast.  

I'm going to go be a bastard now and help them get the trucks ready

[Krusher]

Sorry to hear that RIP, give him our best.  

As some of you know my wife is a flight attendant with AA.  Her pay and benifits were cut pretty deeply and her schedule extended.   She went to work for AA in 1972 and has seen the company make it in good and bad times.  Some of the current problems are internal (management) and some are external (compition).  We don't think AA is a dead company, we do think it is a company that is in transistion.

[Krusher]

Originally posted by Silat
Sorry about the job loss for Rips friend.
But sometimes when the truth hits close enough to home, a light goes off in your head and you see the light.
 

So what is the light Silat?  Your not going to try and put the blame on Bush again are you?

[Krusher]

Originally posted by ROCrats
Interesting few comments in here.

[edited because I spelled "idiots" wrong, ain't that just a kicker?]

Hey ROC !  long time no see

[TweetyBird]

>>There really isn't a good way out of this. China has cheaper labor because it has a population that doesn't NEED to be paid more.
<<

This makes it more complicated than it needs to be. YES - China is great for human rights violations and still have sweat shops for children, carefully hidden from WalMart reps who aren't that interested in finding out anyway. I imagine China could cut labor cost to next to nothing if they wanted to. Thats the benifit of tyranny - cheap labor. And yes we could get into the morality of ANY industrialized country importing the products of slave labor, carefully disguised for people who don't really want to see anyway.

But all I'm saying is CLEARLY mark imported items and how many jobs it cost Americans. Its not much to ask unless a retailer wants to obscure what they are doing.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by Krusher
We don't think AA is a dead company, we do think it is a company that is in transistion.

I hope your right, Krusher. That was my opinion, not his.

[Bodhi]

Rip,

sorry about your bro's loss. Hope he finds work soon.


IMHO, this thread's replies are mostly in horid taste.  Airhead, you need to grow up, those blaming the current administration for the airline's situation need to look at who deregulated the airlines, and the other's thinking it's funny that a Bush Supporter's brother lost a job need to sit back and think about your attitude.

Sheesh, this board has gone so far low it disgusts even me.

[Stringer]

Originally posted by TweetyBird
[B But all I'm saying is CLEARLY mark imported items and how many jobs it cost Americans. Its not much to ask unless a retailer wants to obscure what they are doing. [/B]

Tweety,
I don't think that will make one bit of difference to the average, and the vast majority of consumers.

I worked as head of Global Supply Chain and Sourcing for a Consumer Products company and the data doesn't lie.
The Point of Sale data that the retailers use to help shape their buying decisions, that is.  

Every foot on a retail shelf has to generate so much revenue.  If the product put there costs more and the consumer doesn't buy it, then that shelf space is now costing money, not generating it.

Try to blame the retailers all you want, but the fact is WalMart would not be the single biggest retailer in the world, if the buying public cared about where the goods were made instead of how much the goods cost.

And it's not just the US.  Every major consumer products manufacturer in the world has operations in China and the Far East.  Many European manufacturers do the same.

[Dago]

Originally posted by Stringer

Try to blame the retailers all you want, but the fact is WalMart would not be the single biggest retailer in the world, if the buying public cared about where the goods were made instead of how much the goods cost.

That is the truth.  The public only asks "how much".  Not much else enters the equation.

Same with airlines,  if you offered the flying public a seat on "Jihad Airlines" at 25% less than the other carriers, "Jihad Airlines" would sell every seat.  They wouldn't bother to question anything about the airline.

dago

[Sixpence]

Is rocrats mr black?

[Creamo]

This thread started pointless, and has become ridiculous.

Sixpence worked in mrb; and Bodhi, you should know better, it wasn’t a post about someone’s misfortune. Read into the troll, and don't feed him. It's a responce 'trap'.

[ROC]

1)  KrusherDood!! Happy Holidays bud, good to see you hanging out.  I still get the old squad spam mail and love it

2)  Who is MrB

3) Am I really supposed to give a purple flying monkeys left bellybutton cheek who MrB is?