Community Chat

[Venezia]

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

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@JustJazzmom wrote:

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

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@nominom wrote:

Regulations in this country are in place for a reason and usually those reasons are job safety and or enviromental safety.   Other countries general don't care what conditions their workers are forced to endure nor do they care what they do to their local water supply, soil, and air quality.   We also don't make it a habit to de-value our currency like some of these other countries who have lower costs for wages and living, including lower living standards.  Even if these corporations paid no tax in this country they are still going to go where they can get cheap labor with zero or next to nothing regulations or liabilty responsibilty to workers and the enviroment.    

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These companies are not building in third world countries.  This plant will probably be state of the art, taking advantage of current technology and safety procedures.  The problem is that you have so many rules and regulations in this country that many are just throwing up their hands and leaving for friendlier countries.  True story.....OSHA inspector was at a plant to investigate an incident.  She saw an excivation that a subcontractor was doing, not even in the same building as the incident she was there for.  Regulations allow for a depth of 60 inches.  She walked all aroung the excivation with a measuring stick till she found 1 place that measured 61 inches.  The subcontractor was sited for a violation.  Why would companies want to continue to do business in that type of environment. 

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This is why we have rules in place -- they are made for a reason. If a company wants to skirt the rules, it eventually impacts everyone.

61" is just as bad as 59". 

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They were digging a hole, the job was in process not complete.  If I remember correctly cement was going to be poured to secure machinery.  The floor would have been leveled long before the project was finished.  The 1 inch had nothing to do with anything other than an overzealous agent trying to make a name.  

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Too much hearsay for me.  I'd want to see the actual violation report before I believed she checked out something that wasn't in her remit, then interrupted an excavation in process to measure every little bit until she found a "violation".

I have more than one family member whose entire careers have been in construction and I've never once heard of anything quite like that.

Too many urban myths get established from hearsay.

[Venezia]

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@croemer wrote:

Until we cut taxes in our country to make it more feasible to operate...sadly this will keep happening.

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Big corporations know every tax loophole in the book and take advantage of them (as do the 1%).  They pay less proportionately in taxes than the ordinary worker on the street.  Yet they cry foul, when it's even suggested that they be made to pay their fair share.  We get the same old rhetoric - "it will be too expensive to operate", "people's jobs will have to go", on and on.  Crocodile tears and laughing all the way to the bank.

[Venezia]

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@physicsnut wrote:

 I have never owned or driven a FORD and never will.  My uncle was a plant manager back in the day and he is 89 now and says he quit driving a FORD years ago because of the union corruption at FORD  and loss of jobs - and he was entitled to a very good discount on new cars.  He, like me, drive Hondas.

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Ford was the only U.S. car manufacturer that didn't accept a penny from the government (taxpayer funded) bailout years ago.  They kept their company going through their own initiatives and maintained their integrity.

I'm happy to drive my Ford truck.  I wouldn't have dreamt of buying anything else.  (Oh and...my brother was a lifelong Ford mechanic.)

So I guess we balance each other out.  Thankfully, we live in a country that offers us lots of choices.

[CrazyDaisy]

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@Venezia wrote:

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

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@JustJazzmom wrote:

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

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@nominom wrote:

Regulations in this country are in place for a reason and usually those reasons are job safety and or enviromental safety.   Other countries general don't care what conditions their workers are forced to endure nor do they care what they do to their local water supply, soil, and air quality.   We also don't make it a habit to de-value our currency like some of these other countries who have lower costs for wages and living, including lower living standards.  Even if these corporations paid no tax in this country they are still going to go where they can get cheap labor with zero or next to nothing regulations or liabilty responsibilty to workers and the enviroment.    

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These companies are not building in third world countries.  This plant will probably be state of the art, taking advantage of current technology and safety procedures.  The problem is that you have so many rules and regulations in this country that many are just throwing up their hands and leaving for friendlier countries.  True story.....OSHA inspector was at a plant to investigate an incident.  She saw an excivation that a subcontractor was doing, not even in the same building as the incident she was there for.  Regulations allow for a depth of 60 inches.  She walked all aroung the excivation with a measuring stick till she found 1 place that measured 61 inches.  The subcontractor was sited for a violation.  Why would companies want to continue to do business in that type of environment. 

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This is why we have rules in place -- they are made for a reason. If a company wants to skirt the rules, it eventually impacts everyone.

61" is just as bad as 59". 

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They were digging a hole, the job was in process not complete.  If I remember correctly cement was going to be poured to secure machinery.  The floor would have been leveled long before the project was finished.  The 1 inch had nothing to do with anything other than an overzealous agent trying to make a name.  

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Too much hearsay for me.  I'd want to see the actual violation report before I believed she checked out something that wasn't in her remit, then interrupted an excavation in process to measure every little bit until she found a "violation".

I have more than one family member whose entire careers have been in construction and I've never once heard of anything quite like that.

Too many urban myths get established from hearsay.

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Your right I was not there, however the safety officer for the company I work for was.  Depends on the area of construction your family members are employed.  OSHA inspectors have the power to look at anything "they see" even if was not part of the original purpose of the visit.  Which is why these facilities escorts them to the site rather than let them wonder around.  While many inspectors are helpful and reasonable while there are still others who are not.

[CrazyDaisy]

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@Venezia wrote:

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@croemer wrote:

Until we cut taxes in our country to make it more feasible to operate...sadly this will keep happening.

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Big corporations know every tax loophole in the book and take advantage of them (as do the 1%).  They pay less proportionately in taxes than the ordinary worker on the street.  Yet they cry foul, when it's even suggested that they be made to pay their fair share.  We get the same old rhetoric - "it will be too expensive to operate", "people's jobs will have to go", on and on.  Crocodile tears and laughing all the way to the bank.

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As long as they are following the tax law, it is their share.  Change the laws rather than turning them into villains.

[BlingQueen022]

Long live Toyota!

[gardenman]

I've never heard of a CEO who prefers to travel overseas to attend to a manufacturing issue. I'm pretty sure they'd all prefer to keep their opertions here if they could make a comparable profit. It's not a lot of fun hopping on a plane and flying to India, China or wherever whenever there's an issue.

We're seeing manufacturing jobs hop from country to country these days as labor costs increase in one country and manufacturers pack up and move on to another country. Mexico has been losing manufacturing jobs in recent years as a result of lower costs in China and India.

Mexico gets car manufacturing jobs because it's cheaper to move cars from Mexico to the US than from China/India. It all comes down to money. If we want to keep manufacturing jobs we have to find a way to level the playing field for manufacturers.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, an easy option would be to either waive the sales tax on domestically made items, or collect the sales tax and give it back to the manufacturer in exchange for keeping their product in the US. The average national sales tax in the US is around 7%. The average cost of a new car in the US is reportedly $33,560. Seven percent of $33,560 is $2,349.20. I'm pretty sure that's more than they'd save per car by moving the manufacturing overseas. Give that back to the manufacturers instead of the states to keep the jobs here.

What would states get for giving up that sales tax revenue? They'd get more high paying jobs, give manufacturers a reason to stay here, give those who left a reason to come back, and revive much of the US economy. That kind of money could help them overlook the insane regulatory system now in place also.

Money is the answer to the why companies leave and also the solution to get them back.

[BLH]

I hope those employees in Mexico enjoy their $3.00/hour.  All because Ford doesn't want to pay $7.25/hour here.  The rich keep getting richer.  We wouldn't want to raise Ford's taxes now would we? Wonder how much their CEO is getting?

[kdgn]

According to Ford's CEO, no jobs will be lost; while Ford is expanding in Mexico, it will be replacing small car production with two higher profit trucks and SUVs. He assured the UAW that the plant would remain in operation. 

[QueenDanceALot]

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@gardenman wrote:

I've never heard of a CEO who prefers to travel overseas to attend to a manufacturing issue. I'm pretty sure they'd all prefer to keep their opertions here if they could make a comparable profit. It's not a lot of fun hopping on a plane and flying to India, China or wherever whenever there's an issue.

We're seeing manufacturing jobs hop from country to country these days as labor costs increase in one country and manufacturers pack up and move on to another country. Mexico has been losing manufacturing jobs in recent years as a result of lower costs in China and India.

Mexico gets car manufacturing jobs because it's cheaper to move cars from Mexico to the US than from China/India. It all comes down to money. If we want to keep manufacturing jobs we have to find a way to level the playing field for manufacturers.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, an easy option would be to either waive the sales tax on domestically made items, or collect the sales tax and give it back to the manufacturer in exchange for keeping their product in the US. The average national sales tax in the US is around 7%. The average cost of a new car in the US is reportedly $33,560. Seven percent of $33,560 is $2,349.20. I'm pretty sure that's more than they'd save per car by moving the manufacturing overseas. Give that back to the manufacturers instead of the states to keep the jobs here.

What would states get for giving up that sales tax revenue? They'd get more high paying jobs, give manufacturers a reason to stay here, give those who left a reason to come back, and revive much of the US economy. That kind of money could help them overlook the insane regulatory system now in place also.

Money is the answer to the why companies leave and also the solution to get them back.

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Aw, gee, my heart bleeds for those poor CEO's.

They won't bring jobs back here unless they can pay employees slave wages like they get away with in other countries.