[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by icenine

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-f...g-boom-mexico/

Mexico's manufacturing boom is lifting U.S. workers

Tell that to the millions of American workers that have lost their jobs.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/1400-...ry?id=36986150

A union representing workers at an Indianapolis facility that recently announced it would be moving to Mexico -- taking 1,400 U.S. jobs along with it -- met with company representatives today but said there was "no hope" of stopping the move.

Carrier, which makes heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, announced on Feb. 10 that it planned to relocate its Indianapolis, Indiana, manufacturing facility to Monterrey, Mexico, "over the course of an estimated three-year period."

"It's pretty damn bad when you've got people that figured they'd be able to retire there with some dignity and due to no fault of their own, now they're finding out they're not going to have a job," Chuck Jones, the president of United Steelworkers Local 1999, told RTV6 today.

Jones said the move would affect 1,400 workers. "They're devastated," he said.

"I'm just trying to support my family, you know," said Carrier employee Amber Needy, who was present on Feb. 10 when the announcement was made at the facility. "I'm just trying to survive."

Jones told RTV6 that the union's no. 1 objective was keeping the jobs located in Indianapolis but that Carrier did not think that was feasible.

"Their answer was basically that because of the wage discrepancies, they didn't see it being possible that was going to happen," he said.

According to Jones, Indianapolis workers make about $20 an hour on average compared to the $3 an hour Carrier would pay Mexican workers.