HK wrote:
for men's clothes:

http://www.brooksbrothers.com/men/mi...C-GM9028969921


Brooks Brothers is selling men's shirts, three for $199. These shirts
surely are manufactured in China (or worse) by workers making a few
pennies a day.

In the good old days, these shirts were manufactured in two factories
(neither owned by Brooks Brothers) in New Haven, Connecticut, my home
town, by members of the ILGWU, who earned union-negotiated wages and
benefits. The workers made a modest living, the shirt manufacturers made
a reasonable profit, and the consumer - guys like me - were able to buy
these men's shirts, three for $27. Once a year, "seconds" were available
for about $6 each.

The economic change is staggering. The shirts are now more than $65
each, instead of $9 each, the workers today make next to nothing, and
the corporationists are making out like bandits.

The last major U.S. shirtmaker, Hathaway, closed its doors years ago.

This is progress?






If there is no demand, the business folds. Economics 101.

HK wrote:
Gene Kearns wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:38:04 -0400, HK penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

|Gene Kearns wrote:
| On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:05:21 GMT, Ron penned the following well
| considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:
| | |
| |"Gene Kearns" wrote in
message | .. .
| | On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:57:42 -0400, HK penned the following well
| |
| |
| | No, it isn't.... but here is a partial answer:
| |
| | http://www.allamericanclothing.com/
| |
| |
| |"This jean is Made in the USA all the way from the materials to
the labor | |*(non-union)*.
| |So shop with confidence and pride when purchasing this All
American | |Classic!"
| |
| |Nice- non-union. | |
| | Textiles in NC, which used to be the backbone of our economy, were
| always successful in defeating the unions. Those non-union shops,
| today, are just as gone as the union ones....
| | NC has the lowest Union Representation of any state 3.5%.
| | So, today, whatever side of the fence you are on.... America is
better
| off buying home brewed.... union, or not.....
| | | http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm
| |
|
|The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which representes corporate interests,
is |officially opposed to "buy American" provisions.


My first reaction to your post was: bullsh*t. However, Google has
proved you entirely correct.

Apparently, these folks at the "Chamber of Commerce" are way more
concerned with our "trading partner's" P&L than the welfare of both
the American economy and the unemployed American wage earners and
their families.

http://www.uschamber.com/press/relea...provisions.htm

http://www.uschamber.com/issues/lett...uyamerican.htm

I am appalled.


Big business is not a friend of working families.



The US Chamber of Commerce is not "Big business". They are trivial.

HK wrote:
Don White wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
m...
Gene Kearns wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:38:04 -0400, HK penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

|Gene Kearns wrote:
| On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:05:21 GMT, Ron penned the following well
| considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:
| | |
| |"Gene Kearns" wrote in
message | .. .
| | On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:57:42 -0400, HK penned the following well
| |
| |
| | No, it isn't.... but here is a partial answer:
| |
| | http://www.allamericanclothing.com/
| |
| |
| |"This jean is Made in the USA all the way from the materials to
the labor | |*(non-union)*.
| |So shop with confidence and pride when purchasing this All
American | |Classic!"
| |
| |Nice- non-union. | |
| | Textiles in NC, which used to be the backbone of our economy,
were
| always successful in defeating the unions. Those non-union shops,
| today, are just as gone as the union ones....
| | NC has the lowest Union Representation of any state 3.5%.
| | So, today, whatever side of the fence you are on.... America
is better
| off buying home brewed.... union, or not.....
| | | http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm
| |
|
|The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which representes corporate
interests, is |officially opposed to "buy American" provisions.


My first reaction to your post was: bullsh*t. However, Google has
proved you entirely correct.

Apparently, these folks at the "Chamber of Commerce" are way more
concerned with our "trading partner's" P&L than the welfare of both
the American economy and the unemployed American wage earners and
their families.

http://www.uschamber.com/press/relea...provisions.htm

http://www.uschamber.com/issues/lett...uyamerican.htm

I am appalled.

Big business is not a friend of working families.


--

Bit of a tempest brewing up here.
Seems a number of Canadian companies can't get contracts in the US
because of the Buy America policy.
Canadian Municipalities want to do likewise..restrict buying American
goods & services
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Busines...817/story.html




Since we are close, close neighbors with a long, beneficial history, and
since both countries have many standards that if not identical are
damned similar, and these include wages, hours, and working conditions,
I would favor a "no barriers" approach in trade involving manufactured
goods and natural resources between the U.S. and Canada. But the goods,
resources, services, whatever, would have to be 100% made in the U.S. or
Canada.





WAFA:

Toyota, Yamaha, Husqvarna, Wal*Mart printer...

My vehicles were BOTH made in the US.