On 09/08/2020 20:35, dpb wrote:
On 8/9/2020 1:39 PM, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 19:37, wrote:
...

The unions are renegotiating there contracts but there is friction
when some old guy on the old contract is making twice to 3 times as
much money and working less than the new guy. The old folks are aging
out or being bought out and moving here these days.

I see, thanks.

That's major reason for the move away from North, Upper Midwest in
general for the past at least 30-40 years--outside that northern tier of
states and a very few others here and there, the rest of the US is
"right to work" country where it is not mandatory to belong to and pay
the union bosses in order to be able to hold a job even in a union shop.

So, virtually all new manufacturing went to those locations leaving the
historical areas holding the bag in being unable to attract anybody to
replace the past.

Michelin, BMW, GM/Saturn and some others were the spearheads back in 70s
and 80s.Â* Now hundreds of others are all over the south and
southeast--most are still non-union (by worker vote) although some have
unionized since.

Eventually, there may be enough of the old guaranteed union cushy job
with unsustainable cost structure built into by work rules and benefits
mentality fade away to let them rebuild but it won't be until then and
if that doesn't happen, then it just will remain depressed until it does.

The US monopoly on auto manufacturing and steel will, however, never be
what it once was although COVID may have shown enough weaknesses in the
JIT and foreign delivery supply chain model to have some lasting
modifications come out of it.

Whether any administration will have the political will and overall
political might to protect US ability to produce sufficiently
independent of present and future enemies is doubtful--that was part of
the fallout of the tariff and embargo side effects of having to exempt
defense contractors to be able to use imported materials.

Certainly the Dems have no ideas along those lines and the Reps have no
ability to do anything without stumbling all over themselves trying to
do it or can't ever actually decide what, precisely, it is they want to
do, so it ain't agonna' happen any time real soon now, though.

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Thanks for that.