Thread: CSpan2: Senate Convenes 7:35am Pacific

my post was meant to reflect my anger.

answer this pls and you will understand

1. you are here to fight to preserve only tech jobs True/False
2. 6 out of 10 members in this forum drive foreign made cars True/False
3. Im willing to save a manufacturing job. I will sell my toyota True/False
4. anti globalisation is as important to me as anti foreign worker True/False

our cause was lost because in the end consumers chose to take the cheap foreign products..same will be with your cause. In the end cost trumps the consumer. They may care but when it comes to their money, they make excuses.

If this guy wants me to buy a Ford then he better do some research on how Ford Corporate thieves have invested their money: mostly on CEO's and in fact they are investing money in the OBL. Also, I have heard that Ford Motor is also planning on sending their opperations to Mexico.

I used to own a Ford F100 it was constantly breaking down, one week it needed a trany, the next week it needed a new linkage, the next week it needed engine work. It was costing me a fortune to drive that truck. Now I own a Toyota Tundra it was made in Indiana by an American that made a Great truck, low maintenance. Everything else I own is mostly made in America, but it's getting harder to find everyday.

if i hit a raw nerve there is nothing insulting in my posts.

Im provoking fellow americans into thinking and buying american. If you think that is wrong alright I will leave.

both our causes are for a better america. we need your support and you need ours. but i will leave with a bitter feeling that you guys here have drawn a line between both our causes.

You are not willing to support mine.

Hey we should all buy American. We both agree and you don't have to leave. We agree that Nafta and the trade/outsourcing has hurt as very badly.

Dear American Patriot..

no offence . Patriotism is not buying a product because it is the best in the market. That is consumerism.

Patriotism is supporting an American company that adds to america's value. Im in the automotive industry and I know what a joke it is when they say toyotas are made here in America. they are assembled here. they are researched designed and made in japan. dont let them fool you. Ask toyota of all the employees in its payroll how many are americans.

for avery 3 jobs lost at ford, 1 will stay at toyota usa and 2 will be added in japan

When you buy a foreign made car you are strengthening a foreign govt, currency and people. Am I the only one worried ? GM, ford these are American icons. They support innumerable american families earn their living. less sales = less jobs= less future research = shut shop

Im already pissed with GM because they are outsourcing key auto components being manufactured here to overseas. Dont know how many families were affected there.

bluecollar,

We have two Chevy trucks & an Oldsmobile. We are a blue collar family.

Perhaps you can help with something I can't seem to find out anywhere. Is the an American car/truck, made with American parts that is assembled in America? Completely 100% American?

We'll be in the market soon for both a car & truck. I would appreciate any help you can give me.

We have 2 Chevey vehicles. I will never buy a foreign car.

I am looking at labels before I buy as well. I think the American sock industry is still American and needs our support.

Originally Posted by bluecollar

if i hit a raw nerve there is nothing insulting in my posts.

Im provoking fellow americans into thinking and buying american. If you think that is wrong alright I will leave.

both our causes are for a better america. we need your support and you need ours. but i will leave with a bitter feeling that you guys here have drawn a line between both our causes.

You are not willing to support mine.

You didn't hit a 'raw nerve' here, BLUECOLLAR, as most of the people here on Alipac are quite aware about the 'import' disparity.

What you did do, however, is attempt to label people and lump them into a category of your choosing withOUT even knowing what their thoughts are or where their loyalties lie.
That is an insult

You're barking up the wrong tree.

You're worried about your job now? Were you concerned that ILLEGAL ALIENS have taken many American jobs, in many industries? Or are you concerned only now that your own job may be on the chopping block?

This is an AMERICAN PROBLEM..........not a single industry problem.

APRIL 9, 2007

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/co ... 029081.htm

Factories Go South. So Does Pay
Mexico's auto industry is booming, but parts outsourcing is keeping a lid on wages

These should be the best of times for Mexico's auto industry. The country produced a record 2 million cars and light trucks last year, exporting three-fourths of them, while more than $4 billion in foreign investment poured into the sector. And the government anticipates much more as Detroit's cash-strapped automakers head south for cost savings.

But Mexico's auto workers are worried. The reason: outsourcing. Sure, U.S. carmakers are shuttering plants up north, which will likely lead to new factories in Mexico. General Motors Corp. (GM ), for example, is building a $600 million plant in San Luis PotosÃ* that will employ 2,000 starting in 2008. The Mexicans, though, fear new investments may not mean oodles of relatively high-paying jobs. That's because even south of the border automakers face relentless pressure to cut costs.

So they're saving on inventory and labor by shifting work to suppliers, which deliver pre-assembled pieces of cars directly to the factory floor. More than 13,500 parts jobs were created in Mexico last year, vs. 4,500 coveted assembly positions, which have been a ticket to the middle class for many Mexicans. "Ford and other automakers are increasingly relying on outsourcing," says Juan José Sosa, national secretary-general of the Ford Autoworkers Union in Mexico. And like their Detroit counterparts, Mexican auto workers are feeling the squeeze of global competition. "The companies are always saying...that in China costs are much lower or that unions in the U.S. are offering very good concessions," says Sosa. Ford acknowledges that it's outsourcing more, as part of an effort to become more competitive worldwide.

That's not to say Detroit isn't already saving a bundle by moving to Mexico. Mexican assembly workers average just $3.50 an hour plus benefits, compared with about $27 hourly plus benefits at a GM or Ford plant in the U.S. But less skilled workers at parts makers such as Delphi Corp. (DPHHIQ.PK ) in Mexico earn as little as $1.50 per hour, and their benefits are skimpier because unions are weaker in the fragmented parts industry.

FORD IN THEIR FUTURE?
Karla Fabiola Valdés knows just how big the difference is. In October, 2000, she started working in Ford Motor Co.'s (F ) Hermosillo plant in northwestern Mexico, and for almost three years earned $3 an hour assembling Ford Focus compacts. Then Ford laid her off after U.S. demand for autos slumped. In December, Valdés started working in the plant again--but delivering components as an employee of a logistics outsourcing company. Now she earns just $1.50 per hour. "I was so happy working for Ford," says the 36-year-old mother of three teens. "I hear they may be hiring again. I'm still holding out hope."

Thousands of other Mexican workers are waiting to see if much-rumored investments by U.S. carmakers materialize. After Ford announced it was shuttering 14 North American factories, word spread that it would open new facilities in Mexico. The company denied the reports, but the Mexican government predicts the auto industry will attract $16 billion in investment over the next five years. The lure: Mexico's proximity to the U.S., its low wages, and its free-trade agreements with the U.S., Europe, and Japan, which make exporting easier.

Yet as investment picks up, even assembly jobs in Mexico are becoming less lucrative. Two years ago Ford embarked on a $1 billion expansion in Hermosillo, which employed 1,200. The company sat down with union leaders and pledged to create as many as 2,000 more jobs, as long as workers agreed to flexible work rules and lower starting wages. Today, the union says, about half of the factory's 3,000 hourly workers earn $2 an hour--just half what those with more seniority do. "It's a reality we cannot deny," says César Flores, president of the Mexican Automotive Industry Assn. "An assembly plant now creates fewer good jobs."

Is Bluecollar an American? The cadence, spelling and grammar remind me of similar posts I've encountered elsewhere. Note the focus on computer techs - whose issue is that? It's not the main feature of Alipac.