phox_mulder

[quote author=Sierra Phil link=board=10;threadid=8778;start=0#84762 date=1040846514]<br>It may surprise some that the average US of A worker is stereotyped as Lazy and Overpaid.<br><br>My $0.02 worth. &gt; &gt;<br>[/quote]<br><br>I have to agree.<br>It's amazing the amount some people get paid for what little work they do.<br>Not knocking anyone's jobs of course.<br><br>The less people get paid, the more afraid they are for their jobs, hence a better work ethic.<br><br>Back to the made in Mexico part.<br>Dodge-Mexico<br>Toyota-USA (California)<br>Honda Motorcycle-USA<br>1974 Plymouth Fury-Canada.<br><br>Still a proud North American, all my vehicles are made in the Western Hemisphere at least.<br><br>phox

PourinDiesel

I guess I should add my 2 pennies in here as a Union worker in the United States of America.<br><br>I dont have any problem with vehicles built in Canada or Mexico.<br>But, as stated in an earlier post Corporations will use the excuse of the American worker to further their Corporate greed when in fact the American worker is what made the Corporation successful in the first place (ie Dodge).<br><br>Like stated earlier, you wont see the Corp's savings passed on to you from cheap labor south of the border where Mexicans are barely getting by with low wages.<br><br>I have no problems with Corporations trying to better their profits but sometimes money is all they care about and if they can take advantage of people they will.<br><br>I am also proud to build and work on Cummins Diesels in the USA for a living, but some of you sound like you would rather have it built south of the border.<br><br>As I have explained to many in the past, go ahead send all the jobs out of the U.S. and next it will be yours. <br>Remember there are Mexican, Canadian etc. Engineers, Managers and Executives who will gladly work cheaper then us Americans.<br>So watch what you say and do, it just might be your own job someday.<br><br>--Justin<br>P.S. stop blaming the American worker.<br>

admin

Justin,<br><br>I agree with what you're saying. My only points were a. Mexican workers do a good job and b. Selling a truck from Mexico for less than one from the US would kill your job even faster. Having said that, I am NOT a fan of NAFTA and other trade agreements that have been passed in recent years because those also take jobs away from the US. Look at the textile industry in NC as an example! There are factories closing all over the place and the economy is going down the tubes here because of NAFTA. It's a sad thing to see, and I can bet that if NAFTA hadn't passed, NC would be thriving right now. It's just plain sad, and you can see symptoms all over the country. How do we fix it? I don't know. I'm not an economist. Either way, it's a bummer to see all that business go across the border or overseas. <br><br>Jack

Dieselbuilder

Sorrry Jack, I need to reply to your comment. I am not trying to bash people, but I will bash government. Being a Canadian citizen, I find free trade only free in the USA as we up here have to pay. I see the US dollar very over inflated compared to Canadian currency and I know it is seems as the government is subsidizing our products but it's just a difference in the dollar. The tarrifs the US government is placing on our soft lumber is destroying our industry. Tens of thousands of workers have been displaced already across our country, even my own job is in jeopardy. It is very hard to hold back anger. I see in Europe the use of the Euro dollar to try and balance the playing field, it's what we need in North America. I wish cool heads would prevail before we see everybody in the unemployment line. As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer

scottrod

Hate to tell you this but the lumber industry has taken a huge hit in the U.S as well. I worked for a big lumber wholesaler in Montana and alot of our lumber did come in from Canada as it was cheaper than buying it from a mill in the U.S Now all the eco freaks, as well as our own government have really hurt our local timber industry. There are a lot of Montanans who lost good paying jobs because of NAFTA.

Back to trucks- Mines Canadian and all the aftermarket stuff I have on it came from a Canadian shop. I heard the Northern trucks are faster than the others anyway.... ;D ;D

Dieselbuilder

Could do battle on lumber till the cows come home but both of us are cought in the middle of bureaucrats B.S. ............ why canadian trucks go faster???????????? its all down hill from here

admin

Ok, so then it's not just our economy that NAFTA is hurting, it's Canada, and possibly Mexico as well?

Dieseldude4x4

Well, I ususally avoid these posts like the plague but I think we have bigger things on the immediate horizon to be concerned about than where our trucks are built right now. Big business started this a long time ago and we couldn't do anything about it then and we can't do anything about it now. I remember when Quasar, remember the TV with the works in a drawer, took their business from California across the border a lot of years ago? My only question here is who will buy the stuff in the states if all the work continues to go across the borders? Nuff of that.<br><br>This goes off topic at this point.<br>In my humble opinion, the bigger concern we should have right now is that there is a/an (use your own term here) ready to possibly release all kinds of unhealthy stuff on all of us and that our people, men, women, friends, family members, and relations are going to be sent to defend us against people like that. They have been briefly trained on what to expect and how to deal with it but is that enough. Some of this stuff is the deadliest compounds known to exist on the face of the earth. I realize that is their job but I personally believe the challenges our military people face in today's wars are even worse than those faced to this point. This is not meant in any way to take anything away from what those of us that have served to this point have faced in whatever branch of the service, but lets think about those that are already there and those that may be leaving shortly to help us remain safe and still be around to buy these trucks from wherever they are made. Lets give them a few minutes of thought and quit fighting amongst ourselves OK.<br>I hear the locks coming out now.<br>Joel

mic646

Boy did I open a can of worms here. I don’t have a problem with my truck being built in Mexico or the people that built it. I was shocked because I thought that all Dodge vehicles were made in the USA and the money I paid for it went to support American workers.???

I still believe I own one of the finest vehicles you can buy. ;D

Dieselbuilder

sorry for getting so off track, what we need is to get civil back into civilization. Globilization unfortunatley is pulling all of North America to third world standarts. It seems people in ivory towers loss touch with people who work day to day who buy these high ticket items , take away good paying jobs, whats left minimum wage won't buy 30,000 dollar trucks ???

pappyman

The world is getting smaller and trade shipments are faster....are the USA workers suffering more then other countrys ??...I guess since Ive travel over all the world Iam always happy to be home even if Iam unemployed...The USA is The World Leader in product production then we export this to 3rd world countrys and they learn to be better at production i would happly lower my standard of living to see a family in mexico be able to buy food and clothing...we have many mexican workers come to Georgia to harvest the onions in the fall they work hard and sent most of their money back home to their familys in mexico to be able to feed them selfs...ok Iam off my soap box now...your turn

Dieselbuilder

Best think to say MERRY CHRISTMAS

westcoaster

I am sure there are success stories for NAFTA in Canada , the USA and Mexico, there are just as many stories of plants closing and un employment. No, NAFTA isn't just hurting the American economy. Your average Canadian will tell you they are getting shafted as well. :P

alleyyooper

First comment. Yes companies should make a profit I'm all for it. BUT It is sad when the workers building the product (which builds the company more) make just a small pittence and the ceo makes millions. It is all companys that do this, from shoes to trucks.<br>Second comment, I do have problem with going on vaction and wanting a momento from the place I went and every trinket you look at has made in China on it.<br> ;D Al

admin

[quote author=T.Clark link=board=10;threadid=8778;start=15#84815 date=1040865615]<br>Boy did I open a can of worms here. [/quote]<br><br>Yes you did, but I didn't help the situation. ;D<br><br>Either way, arguments can be made back and forth. Not everyone will agree, but I can tell you that if I ever build a company that employs people, I'll make darn sure to take care of those folks because they're the backbone of the company in the first place. Not the executives. Of course, the executives have a very important role to play, but I can't say it's so important that a CEO gets 20 mil a year while a factory worker gets 20k. That's a huge difference. <br><br>The one thing I love about the company I'm working for currently is that the management really cares about their people, and they don't take on these huge salaries like some other companies do. They really work hard to make sure our benefits and pay are as high as possible. It's not just that, but many things that keep me here. I am lucky enough to work for a company where I can call the CEO on the telephone and air a gripe to him without fear of retribution for same. I would never air a gripe about a local issue that way, but for issues and policies that affect the whole company, I have done it many times and have also seen results from these conversations. Who could ask for anything better than that?