From Our Mailbag
Posted by SCapozzola on November 15th, 2007A guest column from: Robert H. Crane Jr., Biddeford, Maine
Since I moved to Maine in 1973, I have worked for six employers with five of them no longer in business due to closing, bankruptcies, or mergers. I was hoping to grow with one of these companies until I retired but they left me…I didn’t leave them. Like many US manufacturers, the company I work for now has been struggling because of the economy and their past customers outsourcing work for cheaper labor.
As I have seen these different events unfold during my career, it amazes me that the people who have the power in government and industry who could do something about this situation, have not stepped up to the plate to respond to this problem. The USA’s manufacturing self sufficiency is being lost by allowing the manufacturing jobs, related technology, and companies that have been American icons to leave our homeland.
Are we being sold out? I can’t help but think of how companies pulled together in manufacturing during WWII to produce the military equipment that was needed for the war effort. We have lost that type of ability by the outsourcing we now rely on.
While living in Maine I have seen losses in various types of manufacturing…..textile, shoe, paper, plastics, electronics. The loss of these manufacturing jobs impacts so many other businesses. We hear politicians speak of the number of new jobs that have become available but what is not told are the number of people working two lower paying jobs to make ends meet to replace the one good paying manufacturing job they lost. In our city we are seeing manufacturing going out and box stores coming in to fill the need for employment.
There are a lot of skills that are handed down in various manufacturing businesses that you cannot find by reading a book. Are there people in industry and politicians who can turn this problem around before it is too late?
##
