Japan to Georgia

samhudson3 · Feb 20, 2012

I think NC finished second in this decision. Newspaper said jobs would be $15 to $18 hour.

Digdeep · Feb 20, 2012

tcartwri said:
That's easy. Cat is exploiting the fact that skilled US workers desperate for work, will accept jobs at virtually minimum wage. The US is quickly becoming the next cheap labour market for North America.

Cat pulls plug in London

Love it or hate it, it is a global economy. Companies, particularly publicly traded companies are driven by returning investment to their shareholders.

Regarding labor, it boils down to supply and demand and wages are market driven. I didn't say I liked it, but a company is smart to move to an area where it can pay lower wages as long as the workforce is skilled enough to produce a quality product. I'm sure that the situation in Ontario was similar...$35-$37 per hour manufacturing jobs that could be done for less money somewhere else (Indiana I believe).

Johnp33 · Feb 20, 2012

When the 99% all make minimum wage, who is going to be able to afford to buy anything?
If you work for minimum wage for twenty years, they can just replace you, no pension, you have not made enough to save anything. Is that the new North American dream?

jonyyuma · Feb 20, 2012

The new retirement plans deeply cut into anyone thinking about early retirement...It cut company requirements by over half...But you can take it with you when you leave? Handsome plan for them??

Bob Rooks · Feb 21, 2012

Johnp33 said:
When the 99% all make minimum wage, who is going to be able to afford to buy anything?
If you work for minimum wage for twenty years, they can just replace you, no pension, you have not made enough to save anything. Is that the new North American dream?

No, that's the Chinese way. :thumbsup:

rockinmywaypa · Feb 21, 2012

Johnp33 said:
When the 99% all make minimum wage, who is going to be able to afford to buy anything?
If you work for minimum wage for twenty years, they can just replace you, no pension, you have not made enough to save anything. Is that the new North American dream?

What's it matter? do you think any average joe can afford a truck built by $40 an hour labour. I earn middle of the road, I'll never ever be able to walk in and order a brand new vehicle but if everybody was on an even keel then everybody would have an equal chance. Given how many man hours go into making a vehicle what do you think drives the finished price up the most. And it's not just 40 an hour, including benefits and pensions the hourly rate is more like 65 to 85. The only ones that should be earning more are the self employed that take a chance and work hard. We had a chance to go union a few years back, if we had I can guarantee that that building would be empty now, as it is we are working 24-7 and even though my truck is old and used I'm happy to be at work.

Taylortractornut · Feb 26, 2012

Barton Alabama built a 900 million dollar plant for building rail cars thats over a mile long. They built it for a Canadian company and they didnt go through with their plans. It was quiet a few months and the old man that runs the compactor for me at work asked me about the truck plant going in. Said it was for mining trucks and highway rigs. I figured out it was the joint Cat Navistar venture. I think the projected price range will be 15 to 22.50 an hour with benefits.

MHarryE · Mar 7, 2012

Labor cost in final assembly is not as significant as one would think. Major factor is freight. Excavator can't fit in a container so it is RO-RO or roll on, roll off. Containers are unbelievably cheap transportation, especially considering vandalism & theft protection. So engines from UK or Japan, planetaries from Italy, and so on. Maybe large weldments from Mexico - Cat's got plants everywhere. Still any labor coming here is great. Last I heard is a Camry gets 18 man hours labor in the assembly plant so use that as a yardstick. Cat builds a lot of stuff in China because the Chinese buy a lot of stuff, but I can't think of one of their final products that makes its way to USA but parts could be another story, mainly supplier parts.

Scooby074 · Mar 7, 2012

tcartwri said:
That's easy. Cat is exploiting the fact that skilled US workers desperate for work, will accept jobs at virtually minimum wage. The US is quickly becoming the next cheap labour market for North America.

Cat pulls plug in London

This!

Screw Cat.

jagyzf · Mar 7, 2012

Scooby074 said:
This!

Screw Cat.

Cat has been bringing jobs back to the states for years. It's more than just cheap labor. How many companies can say that?

Cat built a plant in the mid west to build combines with Claas. They have been bringing engine and power gen jobs back here to the states. Now as shown they are going to open a truck plant in AL.

I read a long time ago they were going to bring more stuff into the states. Probably 15 years ago or so in construction mag. From what I have seen over the years this has been the case.

BBC News - Is corporate America the key to US job growth?
From this story.
Since the start of 2010, Caterpillar has taken on 30,000 new employees worldwide. Some 40% of those new jobs were created in the US. And some 325 jobs are being created over five years at the plant where Mr Reaves works.

Of course you have to look to local papers and overseas news to see anything positive about corp america.