NOW THIS IS ONE COOL TOOL!

[Cobleskill]

Jobs have been leaving this country for decades.

Cheaper labor has always been the factor mentioned.

I don't think 25 or 30 for line workers is justified.

 

[Al Smith]

FWIW most of them it takes quite a while until they get that high .They get hired in at 15-16 bucks an hour with reduced benefits .Fact the last bunch hired where I work will be at 20 an hour in about three years .They've already been there two .

They still hire skilled trades at pretty close to top pay though .20-50 cent under maybe .I'm pretty sure with Honda it's about the same with trades people and the pay is about the same as a UAW plant .Plus Honda at least did at one time use a lot of temporary people for line workers at reduced wages .

Honda might come off with all that hype and hoopla but if not for the fact all Honda workers are dressed in white uniforms you couldn't tell them from Ford or GM workers .I've been in all three companies facilities BTW.

You know they all cuss the same ,drink beer just the same ,make about the same money and say the job sucks ---but they all go to work everyday because the money is pretty good .Plus before anybody gets on that kick of unions you can get fired from a UAW plant just as fast as from a non union one for absenteism .

 

[Cut4fun]

Come on now you think Twinkies are gone because the $20 hr line workers? You better start looking at the CEO's bonuses and greed behind the scenes you didnt read about . JMO

 

[Cut4fun]

My pay had been frozen for the last 9 yrs for sure and maybe 12. I know one year I lost about buck 50 hr.

Guess what the management got a 20% increase in pay this year and the head guys got a 40% increase last year. This is for people already making 100K plus a year. The little guys get stepped on.

I will say this I took 12 weeks off this year to watch my son in HS football and enjoyed every min. Once over I started hitting the OT again. Working 7 days a week. Had my highest year in 30 years. Still dont know where all the $$ went. Hmmm gas 3-4 times more, food up 50%, ins up 30%, diesel up 4 times, taxes up 40% on property. Now I know where it went.

 

[Husabud]

I have to agree Butch it is damn near impossible to buy from only American soil. I do the best I can to shop local from markets that buy from local fisherman and local farms. As far as clothing goes, you're right, most of the Shiite I wear come from some other country. I do the best I can to support the local economy and when it comes to buying something not made here I try to focus on companies who production lines are not raping their employees. We are a global economy after all.

 

[Al Smith]

Historically there has always been a pizzen match between business owners and the labor force .Rather comical to some degree when a bunch of Japanese investers came up with the bright idea to modernize Korean steel mills to beat the Japanese workers out of a fair wage then the Koreans took the ball and ran with it .Flooded the market and screwed them out of the money .Poetic justice .

Ford thought they would cut a fat hog in the azz and have crankshafts cast in India .The Indians got tired of working like slaves and rebelled .That didn't go as planned .

 

[Cut4fun]

Ford thought they would cut a fat hog in the azz and have crankshafts cast in India .The Indians got tired of working like slaves and rebelled .That didn't go as planned .

Hadnt heard that one.

 

[Al Smith]

Yeah it was costing them 6-8 bucks a pop per crankshaft ,a ship load at a time .There were problems and they had to air frieght them in but at a much higher price than 8 bucks per .I can't remember exactly what happened in India except they couldn't make a good casting plus they had labor problems .

If I'm not mistaken the rough casting are made stateside now .Not a big deal they had problems with the Mexicans too with cylinder heads and moved at least part of them back .

Kind of funny some SOB gets the idea to off shore all this stuff .Gets a big fat bonus for it then when they get junk back they move it right back home . Those pot lickers ought to be fired because they are not only screwing the US and Canadian workers they are fooling with my damned money ,stock ya know .--mumble grumble ---:what:

 

[Oldmilltreecare]

Very clever but if it's made in China, forget it. Here in Britain we manufacture almost nothing anymore and a lot of what we import is Asian crap. It really is crap.
I happily pay more to get British any day.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Some Asian may be crap for now, but perhaps not for long. In about ten years, it is estimated that China will be out spending the US for research and development, and India is moving up there as well. I imagine that one day people will be wishing that China still made crap, because all the high end product industries will be over there then too. Other countries may have to make crap to survive.

 

[Oldmilltreecare]

Some Asian may be crap for now, but perhaps not for long. In about ten years, it is estimated that China will be out spending the US for research and development, and India is moving up there as well. I imagine that one day people will be wishing that China still made crap, because all the high end product industries will be over there then too. Other countries may have to make crap to survive.

Although it's a derail on the thread, I agree.

The time of the British Empire and American power is on it's decline, well and truly. Genghis Khan had his time, Alexander The Great had his time, the Romans had their time, we've had our time, now its the time for the east again.

It's depressing but appears to be true.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I worked in the furniture industry in Great Britain for a few years, hand made stuff. British craftsmen did excellent work, really a notable history for fine craftsmanship, in some areas some of the best that the world has ever seen. The government funded apprenticeship system was still going on then, high school students could divide their time between abbreviated school hours and learning a trade in a professional shop. The decline was starting in however. I think it was British Leyland that was on the news one day, the night shift workers at one of their plants were caught crashed out in their pajamas. They had some system worked out to satisfy the work quota, and then could go to sleep, unbeknown to upper management. It must have been after the company was partly nationalized. The once high spirited work was common, but the good attitude was either taken away from the workers, or they gave it up themselves, because it went yonder.

 

[pigwot]

Where is Arborwear produced?
And as far as the OP: I can think of a ton of times working on vehicles where a ratchet like that would have helped -
those times when I could only get about 1/32nd of a turn on a standard ratchet with both arms woven through the awkward paths past headers, brackets and lines and looking like I was trying out for contortionist-of-the-year.

 

[FJR]

Arborwear is in Ohio.

 

[pigwot]

Yes, the company is there, but where is the factory?
Four pair of mine have "Made in China" on the label, and the other two say "Made in Indonesia".
Like Jay I don't begrudge others an income, no matter where they are in the world.
I think it is important that folks get what is due them for their labors and safe working conditions.

 

[tntree]

Branch manager Grapples - I proudly stick a made in America sticker on em,
But the Bolts are Chinese, the hyd fittings are foreign, seen Canada stamped on the raw steel at times

I think (believe/ hope) there is a certain percentage of a product that has to be made in the US to not get nicked for the false advertising
cost wise BMG's are bout ~ 7% foreign, not counting Canadian steel, there not foreign R they