Apple hires 800 at $8/hr

[houstonscott]

I look at labels, and won't by products made in China. When faced with decisions on labels I country shop. I also have been a person to search out the very best highest quality item, I'm willing to spend 3 times the cost to get the product that out lasts all others and doesn't break. I have found in the long run this has always been cheaper, just the German in me. Yeah, I bought a Kubota lawn mower in 1992, $750, when a lawn mower could be had for $99. Guess what it still runs and works like new. Frankly to get that quality it's seldom the US that has the product, but that seems to be changing. HS

 

[Wood_Butcher_Dav]

Labels only tell part of the story. Where did the tooling come from to make the widget here? How many tool and die shops are still around? It's a global economy. The Big Green sources stuff from China, Vietnam as well as European countries.

Dave

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I have an F 350, from the Ford Kentucky plant, and an F 150 from the Dearborn plant. I don't know where all the variuos components come from. My Redwing boots , I think, are American made. I do own 3 Kubotas, I chose because of quality. I only buy Makita tools because of the quality. My tractor attatchments are made in America by Everything Attacthments. After that I am sure everything else I own is from over seas. But, my point was against Wally World, not over seas made products. Wal Mart started this cheap crap binge in the 80's, now look where we are. They also keep wages down to line the family members pockets, period. So don't sit so high in that saddle, WM could be a shining beacon of humanity, yet hangs their head in shame.

 

[Wooddust]

Lets see STARTING wage $8 an hour. Not enough to do all the things one would like to do. But it is enough to live or survive on.

First these jobs are in the USA. These people will be putting $$ back in the economy. While not paying income tax at that rate of pay the will be paying other taxes. All good things. Some of them will also qualify for food stamps. It could also take some of them off the welfare rolls as well.

Starting Wage is just that a "Starting Wage". Most if not all of these people will have to be trained, depending on the job, the ones that work out will move up and earn more $$$. While being trained they are not an asset to the company, it takes time & $$$ to train people.

At some point in time these folks will need to earn the company more that it costs to work them. Company's have to pay SSI, workers comp on top of the wages. A company has to make $$ to stay in business, if not happening it goes out of business in time.

In the USA Apple employs thousands of people, most all of them make far more than minimum wage.

Now the kick at Wal-Mart. It employs many thousands of workers in the USA. Recently it started buying only USA made goods. May take a while to get that done, but it is starting. More jobs in the US. I have niece that works for them, she started at minimum wage and now is the head of the tire department.
Wal-mart also tries to employ older retired folks who need more or extra income. Look around next trip by a store.
Wal- Mart also has better employe health insurance than anything offered under Obama Care.

Fry's & Safeway stores hire a lot of people that are mostly unemployable, use them as baggers, cleaning & sweeping.

Another Big Plus is Most People feel good about being able to work and earning their way in life.

Before you go bashing company's, they are the backbone of America. With out them there would be no America.

This is the goal of the current white house. Class warfare and turning American against American. Pray we can survive this festering rot

 

[TedBell]

What is often overlooked is automation. Companies, especially big ones, can leverage automation to decrease costs (and employment) while bumping up their profits (and bonuses). A smaller company cannot take advantage of automation to the same extent due to capital costs. This automation has really scaled up the last decade and has cost many people their jobs.

Big business used to have more of a social contract with employees and their country than they do now. Companies are not really 'American' anymore; they are global companies that have patriotism to their return on capital and profits. The S&P 500 gets about 45% of revenue abroad. They will always chase cheap labor abroad unless it costs them otherwise.

Walmart creates a monopoly at the local level by driving out smaller businesses. So they have a lot of leverage over the local labor market, among other things. I have to wonder if this is really capitalism (at the local level anyway). It is not a good situation for the labor market, but it is for the consumer looking for a cheap product (if said consumer has a job).

And then there is the saying "the problem with capitalism is there is not enough capitalists left". That is where we are headed with all the mergers and acquisitions. This hurts the job market because you don't have two payroll depts, two marketing depts etc. The merged companies only need one of these departments and that increases their leverage in the marketplace.

 

[crash325]

Boeing to End Pension Plans for Nonunion Employees

Boeing Co. said on Thursday it will end pension plans for 68,000 nonunion employees, including its chief executive, marking the latest step in the company's shift away from defined-benefit plans.

The change takes effect Jan. 1, 2016, and reflects the company's effort to reduce the growing costs of its pension plans. Boeing said it expects to take a $110 million non-cash charge in the first quarter for the pension change.

The company previously announced charges of $140 million and $80 million for making similar changes to labor agreements with union machinists in the Seattle area and in St. Louis.

Since 2009, all new hires of nonunion employees and new hires of union employees represented by 28 unions have received defined-contribution plans instead of pensions.

Boeing said the defined-contribution plans allow it to "better predict and manage financial risks."

Nonunion workers including managers and executives will keep what they have earned in their pensions through December 31, 2015, and then switch to a new defined-contribution retirement plan, Boeing said.

The employees will also keep an existing 401(k) plan in which Boeing matches a portion of their savings.

The changes mirror those made to benefits of union workers.

Earlier this year, 31,000 union machinists in the Pacific Northwest narrowly approved a similar change as part of an eight-year extension of their labor contract.

In exchange for that and other concessions, Boeing agreed to build its new 777X jetliner and its wings in Washington state, ensuring that the machinists would continue to perform that work.

Boeing said it is making the changes so it can continue paying "market-leading" retirement benefits while also "assuring our competitiveness by curbing the unsustainable growth of our long-term pension liability."

© 2014 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com Boeing to End Pension Plans for Nonunion Employees
Urgent: Should Obamacare Be Repealed? Vote Here Now!

 

[crash325]

Small businesses in the USA actually employ more people than large, such as Boeing or Wally World. That be businesses with less than 5 employees.

Now should you want to go into business for yourself it doesn't take a lot of $$. Most important is an idea & lots of hard work. Find a niche & fill it.
Keep your job even a minimum wage if that is all you can find. Then work your butt off on your own little company. Good credit will help, but you can do it with near zero $$.
I started a tire mounting, balancing & alignment business with nothing more than good credit. Had 2 employees.
Started a jewelry teaching school on little more than than my good looks. Has some help from friends (labor wise.) Worked at making jewelry during the day. Taught jewelry making at night.
Use to pick up a few hundred $$ a month after I got my tractor doing most anything that I could get paid for. Not much work in my area at the moment. But with some fliers & a few signs I could do more than I want to. Sort of just got tired& didn't want to do much any more.

Found a niche on E-Bay & did that for a few years. Produced wood wood turning squares & pen blanks. wood not readily available in lots of areas, mesquite, cat claw, iron wood & such. Produced several different CD's That sold pretty well.
Made & sold wooden ball point & ink pens for a few years. Had my own design boxes to put them in. (Not on E-bay) Mostly through trophy shops & Jewelry stores + personal contacts.

Some people that I have known.
A friend that owned a hobby shop, along with 4 others bough the Kentucky C. franchises from LA south & eat to Yuma.
One friend made several thousand $$ a month on E-bay. He found a niche.

Mexicans in this area are real enterprising, Food from push carts to large van trucks, hauling & selling hay, Hand crafts, used tire shops, little roofing & construction company's, Scrounging up scrap metal.

Just a few little things to think on.

 

[ultrarunner]

When I started in the corporate world... the defined contribution was just taking hold.

Twenty five years later, defined contribution is just a memory... sure, the 401k is still offered... it's just the company hasn't matched since 2006 and now says it never will.

Add that to vesting issues when management changes and my hindsight is 20/20

If I had it to do over... I would have stayed self employed. The lure of benefits and even parents being so happy for me to have a corporate job with benefits that tipped the balance all those years ago.

With all the take aways over the last 15 years, I'm just about to the point hanging my shingle and heading out the door.

Funny thing is just about all of my close friends were my age or younger when they retired with 90% pensions and medical... boy have things changed...

Most retired from the big utilities, government, law enforcement and military careers.

Thanks to the affordable healthcare act... shouldn't I be a prime candidate for coverage???

 

[Cat_Driver]

. Wal Mart started this cheap crap binge in the 80's, now look where we are. They also keep wages down to line the family members pockets, period.

I'm not a Walmart of China Fan boy, I'm a "can't believe people are so uninformed boy"

OK this is getting hilarious now. So people are upset because Wal Mart sells Mustard, Ketchup, potato chips, and thousands of OTHER AMERICAN MADE products cheap - This somehow is a PROBLEM. How is me paying Walmart $1.00 for a bottle of Ketchup BAD because I don't want to pat $3.00 for the same bottle of ketchup at the name brand grocery store, or local Mom and Pop shop?

Also Walmart buys from the same vendors in China as Sears, Penny's Target, and hundreds of other big name box stores, yet Walmart is the Bad guy. Why don't all the NAY SAYERS just say " I WON'T BUT FROM ANY STORE EVER AGAIN" and only shop at Amish stores. You all should be equal opportunity boycotters.

Ya what a HORRIBLE company Walmart is realizing if they sell 1000 bottles of Ketchup and only make a nickle is better than selling 4 bottles of ketchup and making $2.00 a bottle. They should be strung up for being so unethical and conniving.

If anyone spent five minutes reading a little they would understand that Sam Walton started the same as every MOM & POP shop in the world - OH NO SAY IT ISN'T SO, he must have been a rich corporate evil doer.

In 1950, the Waltons left Newport for Bentonville, where Sam opened Walton’s 5&10 on the downtown square. They chose Bentonville because Helen wanted small-town living, and Sam could take advantage of the different hunting seasons that living at the corner of four states had to offer.

So since Sanny boy was a Mom and Pop shop like the millions of other Mom & Pop Shops, but did one thing no other Mom and Pop shop did - Sam Walton’s goals for great value and great customer service, something 99% of thy Mom & pop shops DID NOT DO.

Now you want me to educate you on Mr. Marriott, who started in his own Root Beer stand, now Marriott is a MEGA giant in the Hospitality industry . Yes Mr. Marriott also gave GOOD SERVICE at a great price - Gee who knew it was that easy.

How about Henry Ford, yep he did the same this as Mr. Marriott and Sam Walton. I think you get my point, most corporations started in garages, or in small operations and grew. For me, I slept on a Garage floor and ate peanut butter and Jelly every day for two years before my corporation made money, and it make my head explode when an employee wants to walk in the door and make more in one week than I made after two years of suffering. Oh, and my secret is the same as Marriott, Ford, Walton, give good service at a great price.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Complete B.S. Go by yourself a nice pair of $12 shoes. You deserve a present for that tirade. Oh, and maybe take a minute to think about that lucky Chinese guy who got paid 35 cents to make your p.o.s. cheap goods.

I've been buying and importing Chinese p.o.s. goods since the 60's, and I would rather pay $12.00 for a pair of shoes that falls apart than $100.00 for a pair of shoes that falls apart, because they all do.

No one put a gun to the Chinese guys head for .35 cents an hour, just like no one in the USA puts a gun to anyones head for $8.50 an hour.

Believe me I've purchased plenty of crap made in the USA and plenty of crap made from all over the world. You should wake up and smell the coffee if you think longitude and latitude guarantees a great product.

Funny how no American Automobile company can compete with the Lexus to this day. No car company sells more cars that Toyota, or are they junk also.

Why did Toyota sell more cars than GM.....gee we must have a lot of stupid buyers out there - according to you.

Toyota Beats GM in 2013 as 10 Million Vehicles Seen - Bloomberg

Toyota is set a target of selling an unprecedented 10 million vehicles in 2014 after - WOW 10 Million more stupid people buying JUNK. Looks like Toyota will soon be out of business selling all that JUNK - HUH ! Looks like they are all deserve a present also.

Hey maybe we should talk about the GM cars that catch fire now whatda think? After all they are MADE IN AMERICA. Orrr we can discuss how GM recalled 1.37 million cars in the U.S. last month because faulty ignition switches. OH NO looks like your theory of buy American they are the BEST can get you killed and you can buy also a P.O.S. GM car - who knew?