New Kubota Factory

[Volfandt]

Interesting.....
It would seem that many feel that they are entitled, that working to better ones self is only a good thing when the compensation is high enough to purchase the better things in life.
I can see the premise that offering an experienced welder $12 an hr is a smack in the face when said welder was used to making $30 per hr. The question I then have is why is this experienced welder looking for another job?
Other questions would be:
Did the products produced by this highly paid craftsman price them out of the market?
Is the skill level of the welder actually not comensurate to his compensation and he was let go?
Did the company close?
If this welder is unemployed and living off of the taxes of his fellow countrymen, is he entitled to the remain on the dole or should he take this $12 an hr job and work it to the best of his ability until he either earns better compensation or leaves for a higher paying job?
Can this unemployed welder maintain the same lifestyle on unemployment that he had when he earned $30 an hr?
Who is going to support those that won't work for less than what they feel they should recieve?
If this welder is so skilled, why can't he startup his own company and pay all his employees $30 an hr?

I dunno, the fact that a major manufacturer is opening a manufacturing plant that will provide paying jobs, help people develope marketable skills and contribute economically to the area seems to be a good thing to me.

It's more realistic than sitting around doing nothing, living off of others, hopeing to win the lottery.....

 

[houstonscott]

don't be a hater :thumbsup:.

Assuming its the same as the existing KMA plant, they do make frames, press sheet metal, and paint. (I've been there, its amazing) The castings and engines come in from Japan, but man.. you can't expect each and every piece to be done in one place.



Spot on. That maybe part of the reason for them moving production to the US.

You don't understand, I am not a hater. The reason I would buy a Japanese tractor is because I think they do a better job than one made in USA. I don't want a Kubota made in America, I want one made and assembled in Japan. For the same reason I buy German cars, I would no more buy a BMW model made in SC either. I do see a deference from an assembly plant and a factory. I think the labor in Japan is better and makes less mistakes. In car manufacturing engine and transmissions are prime parts and should be sourced from country of origin, sheet medal is not so important. In a tractor I see all the parts as important to the country of origin. That frame and hydraulic parts are key, and or course the engine and transmissions. In buying a Kubota, I wouldn't buy one if the engine was made or assembled in the USA. It defeats the reason for buying a Kubota.

HS

 

[aczlan]

I can see the premise that offering an experienced welder $12 an hr is a smack in the face when said welder was used to making $30 per hr. The question I then have is why is this experienced welder looking for another job? .

My question would be, is this $12 for for the first 6 months to see how he does and then he gets bumped up to more (say $20) and another raise (say to $25) at 1 year?
If so, I think it makes sense as they can see how well someone works in their system and how their work is.

Aaron Z

 

[keyman1808]

EVeryone wants to make 30.00 an hour and thats the reason most of our jobs have gone mexico or some other country where the labor rate is less. What one needs to remember is that if we all made 30.00 an hour the cost of goods and services would be so much higher it would offset. They more an employee gets paid the more the company overhead goes up, the more the product or service they offer goes up, which means it all costs us more so that raise you just got was pointless.

 

[beppington]

It seems supply & demand is at work here: If there are more skilled welders than skilled welder jobs, the wage offered will usually be low.

And if there is ever a shortage on skilled welders, the wage offered will usually rise to attract more skilled welders.

 

[houstonscott]

Modern tractors do not have human welds in them. As far as I know the new LS factory and the new MF 1600 factories are the state of the art now. Japan is playing catchup with S. Korea on many fronts, cars and electronics, and now small tractors. LS's coming from modern robotic factories in S. Korea match or exceed Japanese quality and are selling.

HS

 

[sunnyside360]

Some interesting reading above. But in the end, I believe you get what you pay for, i.e., low pay nets lower skilled and less valuable worker. May be exceptions but not many.

 

[BethesdaEC]

I'm sure that Kubota is non-union. Labor unions in Japan are non-existent and that's not germane to my post either. My post is simply that it's impossible to purchase hard goods and support a family on a $12.00 per hour job without dual incomes. Can't happen in the current economic climate.

Just because the Japanese don't have US labor unions doesn't mean that they don't have Japanese labor unions.

Here is a the PR web page for Kubota's Union.
Kubota Labor Unions

Here is an example of from Toyota.

Toyota Accepts Japan Labor Union?s Request to Raise Pay, Bonuses - Bloomberg

 

[ch47dpilot]

Amazing how a thread about a factory turns into a thread about modern American politics. This next year is going to be interesting. One question will be answered and the future of America will be decided. Do we go with the premiss that the free market works. Every man gets paid for what he can produce and then lives within those means. Or do we go the way of the socialist and expect everyone to have a new car, new house and cable TV. Regardless of how much he works and what he contributes to society. Both have been tried. I'd say based on the last 200+ years when you compare where America has come from(bunch of ungoverned people living in log homes) to Europe(brick homes and functioning governments) I think the free market wins hands down. No other time or place in history can a man be born in a dirt floor house and rise to that of a supreme court judge(Clarence Thomas). No where else but in AMERICA, the United States of America!!!

 

[300UGUY]

EVeryone wants to make 30.00 an hour and thats the reason most of our jobs have gone mexico or some other country where the labor rate is less. What one needs to remember is that if we all made 30.00 an hour the cost of goods and services would be so much higher it would offset. They more an employee gets paid the more the company overhead goes up, the more the product or service they offer goes up, which means it all costs us more so that raise you just got was pointless.

I have seen local, non union manufacturing companies that paid $12 per hour or less relocate to Mexico. Nothing beats cheap labor.