A few Jobs returning to US

Interesting read.
reshoring jobs

I have said many times on this forum that cheap energy trumps cheap labor every time, a fully developed natural gas industry and infrastructure would bring millions of manufacturing jobs back in the right to work states. Most foreign labor is not as cheap as it first appears when you factor in the inherent inefficiency of the third world, plainly put, the majority of the third worlds labor force are stupid and lazy, the very reason their own countries and populations continue to languish in squalor in the 21st century.

I noticed you said right to work states, which of course also means cheap labor.

Could mean a well rounded balance and freedom of choice. All one way or the other cannot be good in the long term.

Unions have not been all good, but they took us from child labor and 16 hour days to something better. Now they are unpopular, especially in conservative states. But it is an effort to procure cheaper labor, for whatever reason. Problem is the corporations that have left America want to come back only for reasons of not just cheap energy, but no local, state or federal taxes, subsidies for everything from energy to training and cheap labor. I was a factory worker most of my life. Now they want to pay $10 or $12 an hour with no retirement, few benefits, and any other advantage they can get. I am sure many will say better to work for $10 than nothing, but even with a couple working together, no way to buy nice cars and luxury items, let alone pay rent and raise a family. Not much of a way to bring back a thriving economy.

Yet in the local area where I live they just turned down a hog slaughter facility and the 2000+ jobs that go with it. Seems a few of the councilmen were afraid it might smell and the wear would be to great on the roads so they voted it down. I'm rally hoping the local hog producers (and there are a lot of them) start a boycott of the city. It's like the money form raising hogs doesn't smell but the hogs do so we'll take your money but we don't want to put up with the smell.

wisbaker,
It seems to me that our local politicians try their best to run businesses out of Terre Haute. geo.

You must be near Mason City.

Their note about returning Camaro production to the US seems odd, hasn't it always been built in Canada? Also Walmart being placed as #1 is nonsense, they drove suppliers to move production to China for 20 years and helped kill North American manufacturing.

I have never belonged to a union, however several of my best friends have for years. I don't have a problem with them either. They made their rise when things got too out of balance, and their down fall is because the pendulum swung too far the other way. The balance is somewhere in the middle that keeps changing. The only thing I have an issue with is having to pay union dues even if you are not a member. It makes as much sense as making everyone buy an NRA membership because they claim to be protecting your second amendment rights. In both examples the little guy is given no choice where his hard earned money goes to.

I am good friends with a plant manager of a local manufacturing plant. They are a union plant and make a big deal of hiring the machinists union. This company can get too busy and outsource their parts to a company about 60 miles away. This is an automated plant that is non union. They can build the same part for almost half price. Part of this difference is the automation which takes capital to purchase. It takes no imagination to see where this is all heading. Part of life is the most efficient lifestyle winning, not necessarily the best.

Corporations will certainly be able to get overall cheaper labor in right to work states than they will from unionized labor, whether the workers will bear all of the deficit in the form of substantially lower wages is not easily quantified anymore because if there is any serious future demand nation wide for machinists, welders, tool and die techs etc. there will be major shortages of qualified personnel. Also, it seems that as a rule, the right to work states have the most business friendly state and local governments, regulations and taxation to attract industry and encourage investment.

The rich want to have all the benefits of govt. to do business at no cost. The very poor often depend on govt. for livelihood. The middle class working man pays for it. I have noticed one thing, during 22 years in the last factory I worked, farmers and others here would say, [ boy you are lucky to have such a good job ] when none of them would have thought about working in a nut house like that. I hear too many say Americans don't want to work, but most of them saying that would not want to work at those jobs either. Most factories only need a small number of skilled workers, the rest are just warm bodies for the pit. With no right to organize not much to look forward to.

What kind of jobs were they? Packing plants are notorious for being bad neighbors and for not hiring locals. Instead they now bring in undocumented eastern Europeans to work for minimum wage or less. Those workers become a burden to the community rather than a net benefit. Crime goes up, the town smells bad, local taxes go up to support the new under-paid workers, and to pay for the town's give-aways to the company. The original locals move away and local property values fall.

Livestock producers will continue to sell to whomever is paying the most that day.