 |
|
  |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
        |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
NEWSLETTERS
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Lindemann Chimney Supply sells wholesale only to the chimney and hearth industry.
|
|
 4/1/2005
Is America for Sale?
No, that’s impossible; nobody could ever sell our country. Or could they? Maybe not the whole country, but it is being “sold off” in bits and pieces. It’s being done by using a 21st century process called outsourcing.
Outsourcing seems to be a catch word these days, but most people don’t know much about it. In simple terms it means sending jobs that once were being done by Americans to a foreign country where the labor costs are much cheaper.
Until recent years, US companies employed Americans to product the goods that Americans consumed. Employment supported sales, and sales supported employment. By their shortsighted policy of moving US jobs abroad, our corporations are destroying American markets.
Outsourcing of jobs is nothing new in the manufacturing sector. Millions of good factory jobs have been disappearing for years – 2.7 million since 2001 alone – largely from corporations moving operations offshore in a race for the lower labor costs.
The University of California at Berkeley estimates 14 million jobs are vulnerable to moving overseas in the next few years.
The range of jobs that are now moving to India, Malaysia, Eastern Europe and China include computer programmers, network engineers, radiologists, accountants, and telephone service centers too. Yes, its is possible for you to give your social security number and other personal information to an income tax return preparing company and it’s sent via email to a foreign country for completion!
Imagine calling the American Express 800 number and having difficulty communicating with their service rep. So you finally ask “where are you?” “Oh, we’re the American Express Call Center in Bangalore, India.” Yes, it’s true. Did you know that Dell recently closed and Indian call center in the face of protests?
Economists give the assurance that the dollar’s decline and fall will bring jobs and industry back to the US. Once Americans are as poor as the Indians and Chinese are today, the process will reverse. By becoming poor, the US can become rich again.
At least it’s no in our industry you say. Oh no, you would be surprised at the number of chimney related products that are being manufactured in China by long respected companies, who until recently used
American workers for manufacturing and assembly.
A customer of ours just outside of St. Louis, recently switched to similar American made and assembled product we carry because “the last seven boxes from China he opened had a part missing.” Another valuable customer outside of Detroit told us, “I went to put a product on a chimney and I noticed it had China imprinted in raised letters.” The union oriented people around this area are very sensitive to that kind of stuff.
Yes, there are a few foreign made products in our catalog, but we only carry them because our unknowing customers ask for them. If you care abut the “outsourcing of America” issue, manufacturing and assembly information is available upon your request.
This is not about “us” versus “them.” Workers in every country deserve jobs with good pay and benefits and safe working conditions. But the current outsourcing and off shoring trends in the US are hollowing out companies and our economy. These trends are producing greater income disparity, declining opportunity, and growing insecurity for US workers and their families.
|
|
|
BACK ISSUES OF OUR NEWSLETTERS
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
