The fired workers at the Electrolux plant in Greenville Michigan aren’t too happy with NAFTA, and I trust that the rest of America isn’t either. Electrolux makes refrigerators, and at one time was the largest maker of them in the entire US, not counting their vacuum cleaners. Michigan alone has lost over 200,000 manufacturing jobs since 1999, and 78,000 last year alone. Electrolux began laying off a few months ago, and the last 2700 were laid off last week. Electrolux was offered tax incentives by Greenville to stay, but no luck. A brand new plant, just a few miles from El Paso Texas has been built, and workers are being paid a lot less than the $22 per hour that the US workers were paid. About 2/3 less, as a matter of fact. The remaining 2700 workers will collect welfare for a year, and then what? The story has happened over and over again, thanks to NAFTA, which was supposed to help America. Oh sure, and pigs will fly next week
Millions of jobs have gone to Mexico and China, and all those laid off workers haven’t helped America now, have they? All the empty and arsoned factories haven’t helped America, have they? Who is to blame? Not the workers, and not the managers. Not the bosses either, probably. It generally falls to one man, the corporate CEO who make these decisions. He may get the approval of the board of directors, and he may not. The millions of layoffs and closed factories probably can be laid at the feet of maybe a dozen corporate CEO’s who became heroes by cutting costs. The fact that the ex-workers may not have enough money to buy the stuff they used to make never entered the minds of that dozen CEO’s. They wanted to cut costs, and the hell with America, employees, managers, factories, or what have you. Cut costs, and we will reach Utopia. Think about Electrolux as a classic example. $22 an hour, and many employees were loyal employees for many decades. They raised their families in Greenville Michigan, and bought homes, groceries, cars, and clothes in Greenville. How many man hours does it take to make a refrigerator? Maybe five, with mass production? So the refrigerator will cost maybe a hundred bucks more to make in Greenville than in Juarez. Maybe even $200. So what? Given the choice of an American built refrigerator at $100 more than a Mexican built refrigerator, which one would millions take? I am not counting the fact that Mexican workers are notoriously inefficient and tardy.
Think about it now. Why not buy American? Because it is virtually impossible. A dozen corporate CEO’s have become heroes by cutting costs and destroying the American work force. A dozen CEO’s who run the giant corporations, which are not necessarily American corporations, but world corporations. Or didn’t you know that Columbia pictures is owned by the Japs, and Burger King by the Brits? Firestone and Bridgestone tires are Japanese, and God only knows how many things are made in China which we have no choice as to buy or not, because all the American factories are closed and boarded up, probably never to re-open again.
The kids of deceased Sam Walton are responsible for a lot of it, and they are billionaires. Other CEO’s have salaries in the millions, and never even stopped to think about America, I am sure, even though most of them reside here, their corporations are headquartered here, and they get their salaries from American banks. It is said that American’s won’t pick lettuce or oranges for $5 per hour, and I don’t blame them. If decent wages were paid and a stiff tariff placed on things made or grown elsewhere, guess what? There’d be no problems with jobs going overseas or south. Damn! I get so angry!
What’s wrong with tariffs? Nothing! What’s wrong with protecting American workers? Nothing! Why do we allow millions to come here and have babies which are automatically citizens? Why don’t the dozen multi-millionaire corporate CEO’s stop and THINK what they have done to America? It took but perhaps a dozen or so corporate CEO’s to wreck the American economy. Plus the D.C. Gang allowing it by not placing tariffs on all in-coming merchandise. Our life-style is NOT BETTER by having cheap merchandise. Hundreds of thousands of laid off workers will attest to that! Would you pay a dime extra for a doo-dad at Wal Mart if it were made in America? Damned right. Now I’ll cool off…maybe.