Outsourcing our job base

waltky · 05-27-2008, 03:21 PM

And now our farms...

Some Farms Outsourced to Mexico
Tuesday, May. 27, 2008 - American companies farm more than 45,000 acres of land in three Mexican states, employing about 11,000 people, a survey shows

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Antonio Martinez used to pay smugglers thousands of dollars each year to sneak him into the United States to manage farm crews. Now, the work comes to him. Supervising lettuce pickers in central Mexico, Martinez earns just half of the $1,100 a week he made in the U.S. But the job has its advantages, including working without fear of immigration raids.

Martinez, now a legal employee of U.S.-owned VegPacker de Mexico, is exactly the kind of worker more American farm companies are seeking. Many have moved their fields to Mexico, where they can find qualified people, often with U.S. experience, who can't be deported. "Because I never moved my family to the U.S., I was always alone there," said Martinez, 45, who could never get a work permit, even after 16 years in agriculture in California and Arizona. "When I got the opportunity to be close to my family, doing similar work, I didn't even have to think about it."

American companies now farm more than 45,000 acres of land in three Mexican states, employing about 11,000 people, a 2007 survey by the U.S. farm group Western Growers shows. There were no earlier studies to document how much the acreage has grown. But U.S. direct investment in Mexican agriculture, which includes both American companies moving their operations to Mexico and setting up Mexican partnerships, has swelled sevenfold to $60 million since 2000, Mexico's Economy Department told The Associated Press. Major corporations such as Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Bunge have invested across Latin America for decades, particularly in countries like Brazil, where agribusiness is booming.

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waltky · 05-31-2008, 12:42 AM

Put yer ear up to a Fiesta an' ya can hear that giant sucking sound Ross Perot warned us about...

Ford to build Fiesta subcompact in Mexico
Fri., May. 30, 2008 - The move is the latest blow to the United Auto Workers union

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Ford Motor Co. plans to build its new Fiesta subcompact at a factory near Mexico City for sale in the U.S., the company said Friday. Ford plans to retool its Cuautitlan Assembly Plant from large-truck to small-car production as it moves to shift its factories from trucks toward more fuel-efficient vehicles, the company said.

The move is a blow to the United Auto Workers union, which last year approved a contract that granted concessions to the automaker. Earlier this year, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said the union would try to convince Ford that its U.S. plants were competitive enough that the automaker could make money building its smallest cars in the U.S. Currently, all subcompacts sold in the U.S. are built overseas, he said. Messages seeking comment were left with UAW spokesman Roger Kerson.

The Fiesta is critical to Ford's effort to unify its global operations and sell versions of the same vehicle in markets worldwide. Three- and five-door hatchback versions will go on sale in Europe this fall and China by the end of the year. Other versions, including a four-door sedan, will reach the rest of Asia by 2009. North America will get a four-door version as well as the European hatchback in 2010.

More Ford to build Fiesta subcompact in Mexico - Autos - MSNBC.com

waltky · 06-07-2008, 03:20 AM

Of course they hail moving our auto plants and jobs south of the border...

Mexico hails Ford's 'global' car decision
May 31, 2008 - Mexico celebrated Saturday after landing the biggest foreign manufacturing investment in its history, a $3 billion deal from Ford to build a new world car.

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Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced Friday the Detroit automaker had chosen its facilities in that country as the site to make its "global" car, a new subcompact model meant to be marketed to consumers around the world, the Washington Post reported. Mexico had been competing with Asia and the United States as possible manufacturing venues for the global car.

The decision means Ford is likely to create 4,500 jobs at its existing Cuautitlan, Mexico, truck manufacturing plant, an area just north of Mexico City, the newspaper said. The big investment also is expected to generate 25,000 spin-off jobs for Mexico, which has ties with Ford stretching back to the 1920s.

Analysts have long expected Ford to announce plans for a big push behind a "global" car in an effort to switch its product mix away from gas-guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs toward more fuel-efficient vehicles amidst high energy prices, the Post said. Members of the United Auto Workers were disappointed by the company's decision to invest in a foreign country.

Source

waltky · 09-05-2008, 12:53 AM

Obama singin' to the choir...

Obama stirs up outsourcing row again
4 Sep 2008, WASHINGTON - US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama once again touched on the ticklish issue of outsourcing and while vowing to end tax breaks to companies that ship works overseas conceded that all lost jobs could not be redeemed.

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Promising to retain as well as create more jobs for the Americans, the Democratic nominee said while all lost jobs cannot be redeemed, further movement can be halted by giving incentives to companies investing in the country. "Not all jobs that have left are going to come back. We can stop some of them that are already leaving by stopping to give tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas and saving those tax breaks for investing in plants and equipment right here in the US," Obama said at a campaign stop in Ohio.

Maintaining that the issues of energy are going to be the "centrepiece of re-building manufacturing in the US", Obama said having energy as one of its main economic planks will ensure creation of millions of jobs as there are growing energy needs in emerging economies like India and China. Terming the high growth in India and China as a "huge opportunity" for America's energy sector, Obama said the US should choose to invest in clean alternative technologies to milk this opportunity.

"We know that energy is going to be driving the economy in the future. Think about it. China, India -- they are all growing, and they are all deciding we would not mind having a car, too. So as they drive we're already seeing demand outstrip supply in terms of oil," Obama said. "If we can put research and development into clean coal technology, then we're the Saudi Arabia of coal. And that, right away, helps us and it helps the Ohio economy," Senator Obama said, adding,"the same is true on nuclear energy".

In his opening remarks Senator Obama had his standard refrain on outsourcing, a theme that he and his campaign have been hammering away in a state like Ohio that has taken a hard hit economically, especially in the manufacturing sector. "We can put millions of people back to work. Five million new jobs that cannot be outsourced in the clean energy sector jobs. If we have got bold leadership from the White House," Senator Obama said.

Source

waltky · 09-21-2008, 08:07 PM

We keep outsourcing jobs, how we gonna pay off the bank bailout??...

Pepsi to invest 500 million dollars in India
21 Sept.`08 - US soft drinks giant PepsiCo Sunday announced plans to invest 500 million dollars in India over the next three years, a report said Sunday.

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The fresh injection of funds is expected to generate tens of thousands of new jobs in India, the Press Trust of India news agency reported quoting chief executive Indra Nooyi.

"As a tangible sign of our continued confidence in India, I am delighted to announce that we will be investing 500 million dollars in the next three years with the goal of tripling our business here," Nooyi was quoted as telling reporters in New Delhi.

The investment would be spent on increasing manufacturing capacity and market infrastructure as well as research, product development and agriculture, the report said.

Nooyi said the company was also looking at acquiring local brands or companies. "We have billions of dollars to target companies in India," she said. PepsiCo has invested 700 million dollars since the company set up base in India in 1989 and employs more than 60,000 people.

Source

waltky · 10-18-2008, 01:35 AM

Touche!...

Thousands of Chinese Workers Laid off as Toy Factories Close
17 October 2008 - In southern China 7,000 workers have been laid off after two major toy factories making brands for western markets were closed down. China's export manufacturers, and toy makers in particular, have been hit hard by the global financial crisis.

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Hundreds of now unemployed workers gathered outside government offices Friday in Dongguan city in China's southern Guangdong Province. The workers were seeking compensation for two months of unpaid wages after the toy factories they worked for on Wednesday suddenly closed. The company that owns the factories, Hong Kong listed Smart Union Group makes toys for U.S. brands Mattel and Disney, and is one of thousands of export manufacturers that have suffered heavily from the global financial crisis.

Last week the mayor of Dongguan, Li Yuquan, told a group of visiting foreign journalists more than 400 factories in the city had closed down in the first half of this year and that unemployment was a growing concern. He says this year it is estimated that foreign businesses' profitability will be a lot less than last year and that there are also more businesses that are losing money. He says it is estimated that next year the number of factories closing down will possibly be a little higher.

Guangdong is China's export manufacturing hub and has seen export growth drop by 13.5 percent as western buyers have little cash to spare. About half of Chinese companies making toys for export in Guangdong, some 3,600, have been forced to shut down this year. Aside from the global downturn, other factors are the rising cost of labor, raw materials, and increased safety standards, as well as a stronger Chinese currency.

Smart Union earlier announced a $26 million loss from weak demand and rising costs. It is not clear if the company will pay the back wages owed to workers. China's state media reports the factory bosses have been missing for several days and the local government on Friday began paying workers out of a fund of more than $3 million.

VOA News - Thousands of Chinese Workers Laid off as Toy Factories Close