Planned closure of Hugo Boss plant in Brooklyn raises questions of fairness (OH)

[OhioChick]

Wanda Navarro's $13-an-hour job at the Hugo Boss plant in Brooklyn was the best she ever had. So when the owners talked about shuttering the factory, she had to do something.

The woman who describes herself as more of a wallflower became a leader in the union's effort to keep the suit-making plant from closing.

Navarro marched in protest in front of the plant with fellow workers. With wind chills in single digits, she demonstrated at Beachwood Place, where Nordstrom sells high-end Hugo Boss suits. She and other union members even handed out leaflets at the Davis Cup tennis finals in Barcelona, which the German company co-sponsored.

The drive by Workers United, which represents 311 of the roughly 375 employees at the plant, is both determined and doubtful. It seems unlikely that Hugo Boss will reverse its decision, but the effort itself draws attention to two longstanding employment issues:


Is it greed or responsible management when a company moves a profitable business abroad to make yet more money?

And should the United States try to preserve unskilled manufacturing jobs, or do they have little place in a restructuring American economy?

"We're in a tough fight, but we are pressing our case," said Joe Costigan, treasurer of the union's midwest region based in Chicago. He is working with the Cleveland local on the plant closing.

"We have to draw a line in the sand and say: 'Can we figure out a way to keep these jobs in the country, particularly when you have a company that is far from going out of business and wants to sell its products in this country?' " Costigan said. "If we can't fight to retain manufacturing jobs in this country, it means that we as a nation have a bleak economic future."

Hugo Boss officials see it differently.

More: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/02/planned_closure_of_hugo_boss_plant_in_brooklyn_raises_questions_of_fairness.html

[mzteris]

1. responsibility to the stockholders

the ones who have more money than they know what to do with and wouldn't starve it the company made a concerted effort/investment in staying where it is.

[endless october]

2. if we allow the manufacturing jobs to go overseas

the middle class will be fucked. plain and simple.

good luck running a 70 percent consumer spending GDP with jobless consumers.

[HillbillyBob]

3. NC is pretty screwed

Greed sent Levis manufacturing to Mexico and Russia. It does not seem right that Levis one of the great american brands now has Hecho en Mexico and Made in Russia on the lables..I wrote them and VF parent of Wranger jeans when they sent those jobs overseas and told them I would not buy again, and I have not. I have bought Carhart (which had made in US on the label). The reply from Levis spokesnot was that 'we have to look after our stock holders' I wrote back I said you look after your stock holder and to hell with the employees who have worked for you for generations and you offer retraining. In what flipping f ing hamburgers thats a 2 day course. I know I worked for McDonalds when I was in high school and it was not enough$ to even keep my car on the road and buy school clothes let alone raise a family. Greensboro NC
Hanes/ Sara lee moved the tee shirt and unders away too. Kickory and Winston/Salem areas(i forget where all of their plants were)
Danriver Mills that used to make towels and sheets is closed and they sent those jobs away. Danville Va which is right on the border and where a lot of folks in Caswell County worked.

The hardwood and upholstered furniture plants have mostly closed. Thomasville/HighPoint and plants in Western NC.

Thomas School bus manufacturer. Thomasville NC.

An acquaintance near Shelby NC worked at a plant that machined metal parts for appliances laid off folks and talk of closing and moving away.

[endless october]

4. it's sad. "cheap" clothing is pretty expensive to society.

i'd rather pay the extra five bucks for clothing made here. unfortunately, that's becoming less and less of an option.

[OhioChick]

5. I agree with you wholeheartedly. n/t

[DAMANgoldberg]

8. Charlotte is ____ED as well

BOA is scum. Wachovia/FU is history, Duke Energy has issues, US Airways has more issues. Nucor, Lance, Continental Tire, and even Time Warner Cable all have employment issues. There is no hiring here, what is being hired is done in Indian Land or York County SC. We have progressive/uptown leadership now, but after 14 years of Republican rule, this town is _____. (Disclaimer, I don't blame the previous republican mayor for this, he didn't cause this, and he's a good guy that I know personally.)

[iceman66]

6. This is why we need to change the tax laws

to make it less "profitable' to ship these jobs overseas.

[KittyWampus]

7. Imagine is half the stock were owned by public and half by workers.