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State textile sector loses fewer jobs
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
ROY L. WILLIAMS
News staff writer

Job losses in Alabama's old mainstay, the textile industry, have slowed over the past 12 months.

Alabama had 11,800 jobs in textile plants in July, a decrease of just 400 in a 12-month period, according to new figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state's textile job loss rate - 3.3 percent - was better than the national average of 7.1 percent drop during the same period.

Fewer job losses in Alabama plants producing yarns and fabrics is good news considering the state's textile mill employment is nearly half what it was in July 1995, when 21,500 worked in the industry, said Mike Wald, regional economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Atlanta.


But new trade deals such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement and continued industry cost pressures could again accelerate textile and apparel plant closings and layoffs across Alabama, some experts fear.

NAFTA fallout:

Stewart Burkhalter, head of the Alabama AFL-CIO, said the loss of state textile and apparel plants began in 1995 when Congress passed the North American Free Trade Agreement that eliminated trade barriers with Mexico and Canada.

"That sucking noise of jobs from Alabama and other states going to Mexico began with NAFTA and it's going to continue with CAFTA," Burkhalter said Monday.

CAFTA eliminates barriers with five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.

U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers, whose district includes Sylacauga, where Avondale Mills has a large operation, and Robert Aderholt, whose district includes sock makers in Fort Payne, voted for CAFTA only after U.S. trade officials put in writing commitments to shield the domestic industry from a rush of tariff-free imports.

Burkhalter said he hopes CAFTA lives up to its promises, though he has his doubts.

"We put up a good fight on CAFTA, but they promised all sorts of things I doubt they'll live up to get the votes," Burkhalter said. "I'm afraid the same thing's going to happen all over again."

Wald, the BLS economist, said Alabama's textile industry situation "is not nearly as bad as what's gone on in apparel mills." Employment in Alabama apparel mills -- where clothing is made from cotton and other materials made at textile plants - has fallen from 54,900 in July 1995 to 15,100 in July 2005.

Apparel harder hit:


Wald said job losses have been more severe at Alabama apparel plants because operators have not been able to rein in costs in the same way as operators of textile plants. Textile plants tend to rely on less manual labor and are more likely to see investments in new technology.

"Apparel plants have never been able to take advantage of technology advancements to keep costs down like the textile plants have," he said.

Alabama textile employment has held steady since the beginning of 2004, Wald said, while the U.S. textile industry has continued a downward spiral that has sent jobs plummeting from 798,900 in July 1995 to 255,200 in July 2005.

The textile industry is one of Alabama's oldest industries, dating from the early 1800s.

E-mail: rwilliams@bhamnews.com