Local plant closings killing our community!

[musclecar_72]

We have had multiple manf. plants close over the last 3 years to the tune of 6,900 jobs. This from a town with population of 15,000 and 95% manf. driven. The norm around here is graduate high school (maybe) and head right to the factory to work. I drove by the local community college this morning where they were having early registration for the fall and the line to register was out front door and into parking lot. This was at 7:00 am and registration didn't start until 9:00.

FFA benefits allow workers displaced due to imports to receive free schooling and increased benefits. The sad thing is your gonna have thousands of people with associate degrees running around in the next few years with no place to work. Guess we'll see a lot of homes on the market as they have to move to find a job.

I was lucky enough to get my college degree and secure a somewhat secure job, but I have to drive 45 minutes each way to get there.

I just feel sorry for some of these folks who have put in 30-40 years in these factories and have no other skills and find themselves unemployed.

 

[SC Minnie]

The same thing is happening in the town I grew up in. A large textile company basically owned the town for a hundred years and wouldn't let the county gov't allow other industrys to move in because it would take away their work for and drive up wages. The textile mills are all closing now. There is one out of nine that is still operating in our area and it is slated to start cutting back at the end of the year. Most of the people have no higher education. I feel sorry for them.

I am also thankful that I got a degree and was able to get get a good job away from there.

 

[mickeysgal]

Its a sad shame as manufacturing jobs disappear across this country. It can cripple small towns in both the real estate market and other sectors.

 

[cardaway]

How many of those places had unions?

In pretty much every case I have seen this happens because the unions strike themselves out of a job.

 

[musclecar_72]

How many of those places had unions?

In pretty much every case I have seen this happens because the unions strike themselves out of a job.

Not a single one had unions!

 

[tiggersmom2]

Manufacturing jobs are leaving the USA in droves b/c it is more cost efficient for them to go overseas. That is the short and simple answer, of course there are other dynamics at play such as the Unions demanding no pay cuts in salaries or benefits.

Anyone that is an employee at a manufacturing plant would do themselves a favor by looking for something else before the inevitable occurs.

 

[Miss Kelly]

This is also happening to my town. We have had several manufacturing and textile plants to close this year alone. I'm talking 1000 people losing their jobs. AND of course it had to happen right when I was graduating from college. I can't find a stinkin' job anywhere in this town. I hate the thought of moving away from my family, but I don't know what else to do.

 

[cardaway]

Not a single one had unions!

Could you give us any of the company names. I'm very interested in their stories.

 

[OhMari]

It's sad when companies do this. OshKosh B'Gosh did this in Oshkosh WI. They closed the plant because they didn't want to pay the wages, so they moved this plant to Mexico. It burns me up because the owners want the money in their own pockets and not towards employees pockets.

On the news they showed the plant in Mexico. It is right across the border from Texas. They showed a guy that works double shifts for $1.14 an hour. He does not receive any overtime-the plant manager said he was hired for each shift, it was his decision to work those two shifts, he also does not receive any benefits, such as medical ins., vacations, sick time nothing. So if you want to boycott Oshkosh B'gosh for slave labor-there is one.

 

[tar heel]

The biggest plant closing ever in North Carolina was Pillowtex, formerly Fieldcrest, formerly Cannon Mills. It was headquartered in Kannapolis, a town built and owned by the Cannon family for almost 100 years. There were many plants, but Plant 1 alone employeed like 10,000 people at one time. If you've ever slept on Cannon sheets or dried yourself off with a Royal Velvet towel, you've used one of their products. It had an ineffective union that most employees didn't belong to. The company was already pretty much dead when the union was passed, though.

Where I grew up, a lot of the moms worked for Hanes. Every little town had a Hanes plant. They've all closed b/c Hanes products are no longer made in the US. There also were lots of other little clothing plants. I worked in one for three summers -- it made shirts for Sears and Kmart. It closed not too long after NAFTA passed. No union in sight at any of those factories.

The good news is that David Murdock, a billionaire developer who is the primary owner of Dole, is redeveloping the Plant 1 site in Kannapolis as a biotech center. He has the $$$ to make it work, too. Not going to be a lot of jobs for people who had fabricated towels for 50 years, though.