We in NC can thank people like Flip Flopin Robin Hayes and Sellout Sue Myrick for this. More to come.

Posted on Thu, Feb. 16, 2006
Hundreds of workers told plant to close in Buncombe County
Associated Press

SWANNANOA, N.C. - A textile plant in Buncombe County that employees 350-400 workers will close next year and move to Honduras, employees learned Wednesday.

Anvil Knitwear Inc., which produces fabric for T-shirts and other clothing that is shipped to Central America for cutting and sewing, cited "competitive pressures" as the reason for the move. The company said it would start reducing operations at the Swannanoa plant later this year.

"I think it's an American business trade, like they told us," said Theresa Cairaway, known as "Big Mama" at Anvil, where she's worked for 16 years.

Cairaway didn't blame the company, which she said helped her raise two children.

"And I think if you have faith and you believe, there's always sunshine after the rain," she said.

Such moves out of the U.S. are made more attractive by passage last year of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which eliminates or lowers U.S. tariffs on fabric made there, said Helmut Hergeth, who teaches textile management at North Carolina State University.

Buncombe County had 1,516 textile and apparel workers in the second quarter of 2005, which was less than half of the 3,847 it claimed a decade earlier.

"We have delayed the transfer for as long as practicable," Anvil said in a news release. "In fact, all of our major competitors have already made the transition."
Information from: The Asheville Citizen-Times, http://www.citizen-times.com