ChrisK

Just another reason I started a construction company, outside the US.... I can not afford to hire workers and pay the insurances needed to protect them properly. It costs me $45 guilders a day for a laborer, that is roughly $25 in U.S. currency..... How can one compete with that? even with the shipping costs I think I can STILL do better overseas than I can here.

Sad, but the truth.

Chris

32storm

This is just another in the line of manufacturers that have left New York State, closing plants and eliminating jobs. Others include Eastman Kodak( single use cameras and now 35mm film production), Xerox, Valeo( will be down from 2,500 to 500 in rochester),synbiotics, Nestles, CVC products,, Lender's Bagel bakery......i could go on. Unfortunately, state and federal government haven't figured out where these workers are going to find equivalent jobs. And the loss of these jobs keeps having a ripple effect throughout the region.

It may be a trend to go overseas, but no one has figured out how people are going to buy these products when they don't have jobs.

ofshore

my thoughts exactly, we've been watching the same thing happening in the auto industry the plants keep moving to Mexico, Canada and oversees. Eventually there won't be any decent paying jobs so who is going to buy a $35,000 vehicle when your making $10/hr? It kind of makes me wonder what i'll be doing in 25 years, the only thing we have going for us is the factories that are left are trying to outsource everything to get it made cheaper.

CigDaze

Sad.

Get used to it, folks. This is the new world destroying the old. We let it happen. Corporate lobbyists, insurance interest groups love greasing pockets; this leads to secular votes which do not end up representing the people or the majority opinion. This removes tarrifs, embargos, and promotes free trade. What a great idea!!![for the rest of the world] Add that with weak leadership from the top levels, who allow the rest of the whining world's elite dictate what we should do to support the 'global economy.' In other words, what can we do for them, we should be spreading the wealth. "Globalization..."

Next time you hear some foolhearty politician speaking about the great and wise UN, the wonderous NAFTA, or the worst one yet, "Globalization" keep in mind what we are doing [have done] to ourselves.

On a side note, soon you'll be hearing about this "International Court," idea that Europe, Asia and the MiddleEast are highly in favor of, remember to voice your concerns and vote NO! This will be yet another way that we will allow ourselves to be pushed around. the ramifications of a "World Court" does absolutely nothing for us. They are trying to chip away at our power every day.

Luvoffshore

Hey Jer, c'mon down here to Fort Worth!! I know of and have been offered a marine repair business in the middle of Fort Worth that a guy wants to sell because he is getting along in years!!! All you have to worry about here is an occassional tornado and some monsson rains in the spring! Lots of sun and a little heat!

ofshore

I was walking through our shop today and noticed we have one of the cutters we designed for carrier on our wire edm. Too bad they must have crashed the machine It would be nice if they kept buying components for their manufacturing from U.S. companies but i don't see that happening very much after they move

Steet

It is unfortunate that they had to move to be competitive, but I suspected this would happen. I use to work for Otis which was owned by United Technologies and they were headquartered in Bloomington, ID. They could not compete because of high cost union labor and moved the majority of their manufacturing and logistics to Mexico. It is a matter of time, if something is not done, other Fortune 500 companies will follow. I know it sounds wild, but I can see the major auto makers moving if things don't change.

Fountain38SC

Any company that moves out of the US should not be entitle to a federal contract. They move for lower costs, they aren't entitled to the $28.2 billion from federal contracts. This really gets under my skin.

voodoo

It all comes down to quarterly earnings and the stock options that go with them. All I hear at work is "stockholders equity". Your right about who's gonna buy all this stuff in a few years. I don't see too many Chinese or Mexicans opting into $50,000 H2 Hummers any time soon. Anybody been to Mexico City lately, they just discontinued the freakin VW Bug a couple months ago. These people can't afford squat!

On a side note, I compete against Carrier and really don't mind they are in a bit of financial trouble. UTC has used them as the whipping boy in many of their earnings reports as the main cause of depressed earnings over the last couple of years. Seems the management at Carrier is piss poor and they can't seem to correct it.