I just looked at a 2007 LE the other day. Made here in the USA. 75% USA Components.

 

This is an issue that I struggle with in my family, because of my dad, mostly. I just forwarded him your article, though, so thanks for that. The question isn't always about whether a particular company brings jobs into our economy or not- it's about what kind of jobs it creates, and whether those are the kinds of jobs we want created in our country. That's the reason behind my dad's insistence on buying union-made cars, I think.

So even now that the TCH is going to be built in Kentucky, it's still not in a union plant, and that doesn't 'count' for him, any more than a car built in Japan would 'count.' Foreign-made cars aren't union-made cars. Though I read something lately about Wal-Marts in China having to use unions at their factories??? -- But I digress. The point is, for some people the foreign/domestic issue really boils down to a union/non-union issue, which isn't just about who controls the bargaining power, it's about how people are treated and how their work is valued.

So even though, in the end, I bought my little HCH, I have to concede that there is something to my dad's position, here. It's like the living wage issue- companies say they can't stay afloat if they pay people enough per hour to live on, including benefits. The question that raises is- why do we want to prolong the existence of companies in our midst who can't manage to stay in business by being responsible parts of the community, providing good jobs for us that people would want to have?

 

Leahbeatle - I can understand your father's vantage point.
Many of my friends who are UAW employees of Ford at the local plant realize that the demands of the Unions did them absolutely no good when it came to making business profitable enough to keep the doors open on the plant.
At this stage of the game, a few of them are preparing to go back to school a couple of them feel certain that the UAW will save the day (oh how I wish that could be true) - The others are just planning on trying to find work as mechanics or assembly line workers elsewhere..
Another factor (locally) that will make it really tough for all the UAW workers here is that this is also the home base for Northwest Airlines. The mechanics that weren't laid off a couple of years ago ended up striking for better pay and benefits over a year ago. Most of them have now been replaced by non-union workers..

The point of the thread wasn't to beat up on the unions but to point out that the times are changing.

I can't help but see what the 3 American Manufacturers are doing to themselves and the American workers. Do to a large part of their own short-sightedness, greed and to a lesser degree numerous failed attempts at raising the quality of products produced - They are folding up shops and laying off our brothers / sisters and friends.. These people are just flat out of work.
If the Japanese manufacturers can find a home here and put Americans to work where they can now hold their heads up proudly and feed their families - well - I'm having a hard time understanding what's bad about that...

The Ron Howard / Michael Keaton movie "Gung Ho" is coming true..

This is not that far-fetched..
There is already talk about trying to woo another manufacturer to keep the local Ford plant open.

 

A Chicago Tribune series run within the last couple of months examined domestic operations of both foreign and domestic manufacturers. Totota, for example, paid with a few dollars an hour of UAW shops, with a 401k instead of the obviously unsustainable pension.

 

medicmike- any idea of the name of that series, or an author, or something I can search for to find it in the Trib archives?

 

It was in July, I think the series was called "The Broken Heartland." I did find a few article references in the CT archives, though there was a charge for the articles.

 

Leahbeetle, correction--the article series was "Same State--Worlds Apart" from the April 2, '06 Trib. A very good article about a Toyota town and a GM town in Indiana and the effects of the changing auto industry on them. I found it in the archives, costs $ to get the text.

 

Not to start a war or change the topic, but our policy abroad probably has more to do with the mess we are in than the oil we buy from those countries. But for the rest of your comments, I agree, choosing to spend money on lowering our reliance on oil from countries that don't quite see eye to eye with us makes sense. But we are still buying oil from them, so an alternative fuel would hit them harder. Perhaps biodisiel from algae?

 

Well said. It's capitalism at it's prime.

 

Unions are bad for business, they had their time and their place but no longer in the auto industry. Until they are gone, nothing will change here. As for unions in China, look who is running it, it's the government, it's their way to force walwart to pay more. I view as more of a form of a kickback to the officials running the show, then a union protecting it's employees.