This is a great story. It brings these struggles home. We need to find away to help folks like this. You should be able to find a job that pays a decent living wage, if you want one.
12
"Now, at 43, men more often remarked on her broad shoulders, which can lift a 75-pound tray of steel. Or her hands, stained with oil."
No harassment there I suppose.
10
Fantastic reporting - gives an international problem a human face.
22
So who in the upper levels of the company got rich off this deal? I'd like their addresses so that protestors could camp out on their lawns. Nothing is going to change until we lay the obscenities at the feet of the vile.
30
I admire this woman, Shannon Mulcahy so very much! She is so resilient, strong, tenacious and hard-working. But what I admire most is the way she had the capacity as a human to be KIND HEARTED to the Mexican workers who replaced her. She had tremendous (and well-deserved) pride in her job and cared about what was going to happen. Everyone in this situation is a cog in the capitalist machine and Shannon had the grace and perspective to recognize this. What we need is a world-wide worker's movement. All of us around the globe are facing these very same problems. This is an outstanding piece of journalism (thank you NY Times!) that documents the tragic decline of America. Please follow up on Shannon. She deserves to get a great job. Peace.
54
Yellow journalism. Definitely. Slanted to turn white working class workers with minimal education against Mexicans. Why not emphasize the stockholders and corporate world that squeezes people for profits? Why not emphasize the U.S. workers who squander their money rather than saving for a rainy day? Why vilify Mexicans? But, clearly, this piece wants to appeal to non-critical thinkers to put the blame on Mexico. However, sounds like half the jobs are going to Texas.
12
What's funny is this is an easily corrected problem. It's a problem that Americans understood clearly from our founding until about 70 years ago. George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln all identified this problem and had a solution: the protective tariff.
Unfortunately, our schools, media and politicians have brainwashed the American people into believing tariffs caused the Great Depression, something no serious economist believes. Both Paul Krugman and Milton Friedman explained that the tariff didn't cause the Depression. Yet, the tariff still gets the blame. Think tankers and their corporate paylords have created a belief in the American mind that tariffs will cause the end of the world.
If we want a middle class, then we need to bring back the tariff to prevent these "$40 million in six years" CEOs from offshoring American jobs to poor countries where impoverished non-union workers think $6 an hour is a great deal.
If we want a manufacturing base, a middle class, and a future for this country, we need to bring back the tariff. It was the tariff that built the industries that made us the richest country in the world. It was the end of the tariff that is killing us.
And if you think this is just a blue collar problem, you're deluded. Those hedge funders are increasing their billions by offshoring white collar jobs, too, and by flooding us with H1b visas and educated immigrants to replace your overpaid self.
22
This is a wonderful story that breaks through all the stereotypes of "deplorables."
With any luck, the NYT will rise to the occasion and continue to produce pieces of this caliber. Such stories help the relatively privileged who read this paper understand the devastation caused by our trade policies -particularly those of NAFTA, brought to our shores by Bill Cinton, and will help us figure out how to get out of the pickle we're in...
Shannon Mulcahy is not a two dimensional figure - she is the real deal, someone I would like to meet one day.
23
It's always about the money. Many suffer so that a few may amass more than they or generations to come could ever spend.
I know the issue is complex but once money becomes more important than people survival for all will be short lived. "No man is an island..." John Donne.
13
Barry,
you need to go into business yourself. Either you'll learn a LOT or the company will prosper from your ideas.
Diva,
There is simply no WAY to run healthcare for everyone through either state governments or Washington, D.C. You're talking about at least DOUBLING the amount of spending. Read up on why Vermont gave it up.
Government is absolutely RECKLESS with tax money -
local governments are bad;
state gov'ts are worse;
the federal gov't is all the above times four or five.
4
This is one of the best articles I've read in a long time. Excellent work.
As a recent graduate of Purdue University, I can say I'd be a little concerned about sending a first-generation college student to that school, or to most large state schools for that matter. Very little guidance counseling is offered, so if you have trouble adjusting, it's very easy to fall behind. For many of us, our parents can serve as counselors. First generation students do not have that luxury.
24
The most shocking thing about this article was that Shannon didn't get the $5000 bonus. As another reader commented, "That's just obscene!" I'd like to know how many Rexnord workers did not get the expected bonus. Although the right thing to have happen would be for the company (or it's CEO who made $40 million last year) pay them, sounds like a GoFundMe page or the like would be in order.
27
Grace. That's the word that comes to mind after reading this story about Shannon Mulcahy. How this woman, through so many obstacles, has handled her circumstances with grace. Learning about her layoff, training the Mexican workers with care and kindness, accepting the offer to train in Mexico (until unfairly withdrawn), supporting her family and daughter on her way to college, considering learning a new trade. As hard as it is, she is rolling with the punches. Please NYT, follow up with her to let us know how she fares.
And yet, all I could think about was what if this nation had a national health care plan so that at the very least her granddaughter would have the care she needs, and Ms. Mulcahy and her family would have just one less burden on their shoulders while she searches/trains for another job.
Life shouldn't have to be this hard for a nation as rich as ours. The U.S.A. can and should do better.
45
It is the very definition of political malpractice that 80 % of people like Shannon don't vote straight Democratic every year. Democrats, if you don't stand for workers, who do you stand for?
People don't want a safety net. They want a job. Can't make it any clearer for you.
7
The notion that Democrats are only for safety nets, not jobs is a fallacy that has been peddled by the Heritage Foundation crowd for decades. It's false. If anyone had bothered to look at the reams of policy ideas on Hillary Clinton's web site, there were many aimed at doing exactly that. Truly kickstarting opportunity in this country will require serious policy attention by a Congress that is currently bought and paid for, and a commitment to civic responsibility as well as profitability by corporations, and a government that is committed to finding new ways to invest in its people. Let's start by getting the Dark Money out of politics.
34
"Matt Virginia 1 day ago
"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." -- Henry Ford
976 Recommended "
And this is precisely why we Americans will NEVER give up our weapons. Politicians on the take have been legislating to benefit the elite, and pushing us towards the global lowest common denominator.
3
Capitalism is the least worst of all alternatives, BUT unrestricted capitalism is destructive. Since the 1980’s all returns have gone to capital and none to labor. Don’t blame the Mexican workers, blame the CEOs and boards of directors who make the decisions to move jobs to lowest cost locations in order to enrich themselves and satisfy demands of shareholders. No regard is given to employees or communities left behind.
27
This was a beautifully written article and personalized what has been happening to the American worker for 30 years. Corporate America no longer feels a duty to its workers, only to its shareholders. It is incredibly sad and disheartening.
27
I can’t believe she worked and trained other less qualified people through to the end and they failed to give her the $5000 or the trip? Shame on Rexnord. I hope Shannon has gotten a better job by now and she and her kids are well, I wish her the best.
29
Growing up in the poor part of Connecticut 50 years ago, the folk wisdom was that South Carolina "stole" our jobs.
Imagine if Connecticut and South Carolina were able to put tariffs on each other, and had a trade war for the last 50 years. Does anyone doubt that both states would be worst off?
9
Yes, Shannon has been victimized and yes I feel badly for her. Her story is the apotheosis of the forgotten American manual worker.
But this is also the story of an ill-functioning democracy that has come to depend on a poorly educated, easily manipulatable (by Donald and his Russian pals) electorate. This isn't an electorate that can choose wisely among some very challenging issues that we face. In fact, the opposite. They vote against their own and the nation's interests. While I support Shannon as a victimized worker, I don't think that she represents the kind of voter that will help us through all our vast problems.
14
I'd like to read Bill and Hillary Clinton's comments on this excellent article.
4
The managerial class in the US is destroying the middle class and the infrastructure in our country. I seriously doubt Mr. Abbott has any idea how bearings are made and why they are important to US industry. Quite frankly, he doesn't care if his company starts making crappy ones when the company moves to Mexico. If this move leads to Rexnord getting out of the bearing manufacturing business, he could care less. All he cares about is his $40 million which his captive board will grant him from the paper savings he will show by cutting wages and screwing good people like Sharon. When will the shareholders in the US wake up to the fact that this doesn't have to happen when you have smart managers like Germany has who work in partnership with industry to make a world class product that has sustained, high demand.
22
Mr. Adams should pay at least a 75% tax rate on any and all compensation and income over half a million dollars. At least. Then we can pay for Carmella's health care. Save the babies!
17
Better yet...fine every company that moves a job overseas $500k per US employee who loses their job because of their overseas move - NO exceptions! Couple it with an IRS regulation that such penalties CANNOT BE WRITTEN OFF and must be carried carried on company's books as losses with no offsets. Add to it that if a company's balance sheet goes into the red that the fines come out of the compensation for the company board members, personally, no exceptions, including "funds" or investment groups.
Draconian, yes. Unrealistic, perhaps. But the 1% (both Reps and Dems) won't "get it" until the money comes out of their personal pockets. Only then will they understand the damage that NAFTA and then GATT did to the American economy.
9
This is a wonderfully researched, wonderfully written story — the best I've read for a long time illustrating the terrible pain and sorrow that unrestrained capitalism has inflicted upon our nation.
When greed became fashionable and politically encouraged in the 1980s, the sun began to set on America's middle class. It was not morning in America; that sun was not rising, it was going down.
Shannon's tragedy has been played out in American workplaces millions of times. The resulting desperation created a climate conducive to a carnival barker demagogue making promises that can never be kept, while he and his capitalist cronies continue to enrich themselves at the expense of the working classes who elected him.
The anger to follow, when desperate Americans realize they've been betrayed again, will fragment us even further.
19
This is what's really wrong with NAFTA and all the trade deals--it's a race to the bottom where jobs are exported to low wage, low benefit countries to enrich corporate managers and their share holders at the expense of their workers. Until we focus on the plight of the American worker and develop a fix that either taxes imports at the rate of our workers make or we pass a Jobs Retraining Act that forces corporations like Carrier and Rexnord to pay such displaced workers like Shannon Mulcahy a year's salary including benefits and health insurance as well as tuition at the job retraining facility of their choice, we will continue to see good-paying industrial jobs shipped to Mexico and other low-wage countries. Of course, this is not what the Trump Administration has focused on (although Canada has made such a proposal) in renegotiating NAFTA. All those Middle America Trump voters have to show for it is the meaningless photo-op of Trump, Pence bragging about jobs (not really) saved at the Carrier plant in Indianapolis.
7
An excellent piece by Ms. Stockman. As a former manager in tech manufacturing, I have seen this story play out over and over again. It is going to take a new breed of committed, smart and courageous leaders both political and in business to turn around this mess.
Let's set up a gofundme.com account on behalf of Shannon Mulcahy to keep her on her house. She has grit and will figure it out from there. I pledge the first $500.
Farah Stockman, can you set up the account?
14
Yet another case of U.S. corporations having no loyalty to U.S. soil and no loyalty to its workers. Somewhere along the line, the victims of offshoring confuse cause and consequence on who to blame for losing their jobs. The Mexicans having their turn "to be blessed", or the corporation's systematic fixation with pleasing shareholders - often anonymous wealthy figures hidden behind the scenes - which can be done by moving labor out of America and paying workers a fraction of the cost? The vileness of Trump being on the side of shareholders, NOT the workers, while masquerading as pro-American worker is of a breathtaking magnitude. About 32%-37% approve of Trump, but I imagine very soon, cold harsh reality will shatter his facade of populism for many who fell for it, like some of the folks in this excellent article. Trump is America first, if by "America" you mean corporate executive and investor class first at the expense of everyone else.
3
If you watch a youtube video on autoproduction, the striking things is how automated the process has become. The future is driverless cars built by robots. That is the future of not only American manufacturing, but all manufacturing. Elon Musk is worried the robots are going to decided they don't need any of us. Shannon Mulcahy asks what happens to people like me? How does she survive in world that no longer needs her. Why didn't Shannon see this coming and get out of the way?
4
Excellent story. She is right that everyone has been fighting against Trump as he has tried to help. The democrats don't care. He is forced to help in pieces which is going to be rough for a while. They claim it's a good thing that jobs are leaving. Like Obama said. And the fat cats at the top get richer. Like Jack Ma said, the companies make trillions but don't share it with the workers. It's really crazy. Trump is the only official that really seems to care.
2
The only thing Trump care about is Trump. Period.
16
How cruel that the American working class, rescued by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, seemed to believe that Donald Trump would save them. He won't. He never meant to. He has no idea what would it mean. The people he works for, apart from his own ego, have no intention of letting you rise.
28
Magnificent reporting. This story is definitely Pulitzer prize-worthy!!! A companion piece to J.D. Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy"
14
Perhaps the world is truly flat and the continuing decline of American manufacturing is inevitable. But I hope not.
The article paints an accurate and grim picture of the human cost of lost blue collar jobs. Education can ameliorate some of the problem, by allowing the newly unemployed to learn new skills, better suited to today’s job market.
But we must also consider the effects on our national security and this country’s future. The skills being lost will not be easy to regain. Today, there are many products necessary to our infrastructure that are only made in China, including power transformers for our electrical grid, some of the equipment used in manufacturing, and many of the ubiquitous electronics that are used for everything, including national defense.
The United States won World War II because we could make things. Today, we would have a problem.
Our security depends on our maintaining a strong base of manufacturing expertise, and this must be reflected in government policy. We should not over regulate to the point where factories leave. If US carbon taxes force manufacturing to move to Mexico or China, where environmental regulation is less vigorous, does that help the world’s climate? Greenhouse gases produced in China are as harmful as those released in the US. Even that great enemy of free trade and a global economy, tariffs, may be necessary.
I’m a firm believer in free markets, but we need government policies that fully consider the big picture.
13
Robots are doing more and more of this type of production by US enterprises. This industry will be worker free in a couple of decades. Deal with it and go to school.
3
Try a few years...max
3
Go to school for what ? Even medical services are being outsourced ....
schools will eventually all be online - even journalism and stockbrokering is becoming automated. Do tell, what are the jobs of the future we can look to for income , oh Wise One
7
A great article. Thanks to Farah Stockman and Alyssa Schukar and their editors for wonderful work. So glad for Shannon's daughter to be enrolled at Purdue. I hope the Times will keep us posted on what's happening to this family, none of whom deserves the struggles they've had. Shannon is such a strong, smart, admirable person. I want to read about the next chapter of her life, and I wish her all the best. May she and her family have much, much better times.
14
I read on for as long as I could and then wondered at a great country's passing
10
How convenient that the company used Shannon and said it couldn't afford the $5000 bonus she had been promised. Disgusting.
34
To Farah Stockman: Your piece in the NYT today was incredible! As others have said, this story brought me to tears (in my case, at Shannon's daughter's graduation). I hope you will be able to do a follow-up on Shannon's situation. She deserves to be recognized for what she accomplished (and so do YOU!).
You have inspired reactions in the comments to this article that enhance the significance of this story all the more.
THANK YOU!
17
Me too Henry.
An absolute shame. A forty million a year CEO cares about nothing except the bottom line. This old, respected company will probably fail within a year and industry will be poorer for loss of their products. The displaced workers will be poorer for the avarice of the CEO and stockholders. The company didn't even pay the promised training bonus. Talk about putting the spiral groove on an inclined plane to the workers.
9
This is the result of the spinning and lies that have gone on for years. It is part of the plan to redistribute money from the poor and middle class to the already rich, a continuing process. Tax cuts for the very rich amounts to more of the same.
In the future, more and more workers like Shannon will be displaced with nothing else available so that corporations can pay people in third-world countries a tiny fraction of what they pay workers here.
I know this sounds pessimistic, but I think it is true.
15
Obviously one thing is missing in the Excel sheets of those people making the business decisions: the know-how, skill and dedications of the workers who build the ball-bearings. It will take them years to achieve the original quality levels in their new Mexico plant - and by that time many customers will be pissed off and have switched suppliers. The Germans learned their lessen - many companies tried outsourcing in cheap labour places and most of them came back having learned an expensive lesson. When will we understand that quality has a price?
21
You are aware that the German automakers are among the companies who have taken up residence in the american south and exploiting the cheap labour available here.
5
The rich that own these companies that move to slave labor countries don't care if you eat or breath. A war is coming, if you like it or not. The 1% is winning without firing a shot.
12
This is a very excellent and eye opening expose on the struggles of the every day working person in America. I commend The NY Times for exploring this subject matter and sharing these people's stories. Oftentimes the troubles of the working class who have been in this country for generations get overlooked, while newcomers and minority groups get the bulk of media attention. This story makes me wish all Americans from the coasts to the rust belt can pull together and make building up our country again the number one priority.
10
One gorgeous piece of writing, I wish Shannon and her family a better future. But am I the only person wondering what happens when those new, poorly made roller bearings splinter in an elevator speeding toward the sixtieth floor?
20
I agree and am also concerned about losing quality products that are integral to our safety. The other striking aspect to this story is the greed of the CEO who is only concerned with satisfying shareholders which in turn increases his compensation. Disgusting!
3
Beautifully sensitive writing about a heroic sensitive woman.
Thank you !!
9
The coalminers who live near me want their coal mining jobs back. BUT
1. the cheap and easy coal has already been mined. Thus coal costs have to go up when mechanical methods are used.
2. Fewer miners are need to use machines to get the more expensive coal.
3. Most utilities have switched to natural gas because it is cleaner and cheaper.
4. What grade of coal do you use to heat your house? How often do you have to refill the auger? How often you remove the clinkers? What is the delivery cost for a ton of coal? The frequency? The cost to remove the clinkers? If you do not heat with coal, keep your mouth shut!
2
So, would you rather be on a jet airplane whose engine bearings were manufactured in Indiana, or Mexico?
Just asking...
21
The 1% could care less ....until their private plans start going down.
4
I escaped the fate of the workers in this article & many of the comments only because in 2002 I was “fortunate” enough to suffer a work-related injury, at my white-collar administrative staff job in a large northeastern city, that left me permanently partially disabled, & transition to Workers’ Comp & Social Security Disability. The only reason I was able to make that change was because when my WC & SSD applications were denied, my employer’s private disability insurance paid me a livable income, making it possible for me to afford to wait out the year & a half it took for the appeals to come through. (I paid back the private insurance from the retroactive WC & SSD payments after the appeal was granted.) Without that private insurance, which most workers don’t have, I’d have had to go back to work injured & in pain until I couldn’t do it anymore, moving down the ladder to successively less demanding, lower paying, jobs until I was so thoroughly disabled that either I’d qualify for benefits without needing an appeal, or be out in the street.
The WC & SSD I’ve been living on since than come to about half what I made when I was working, but I still feel fortunate. Several years after I became disabled, my former colleagues, with whom I’d kept in touch, all lost their jobs when the company eliminated the entire department, outsourcing it to a contractor whose employees replaced them. Companies used to feel a responsibility to their employees.
8
Extraordinary reporting and story telling. Thank you NYT editors for investing in nonpartisan, in-depth coverage of our collective problems as U.S. citizens.
14
After reading this story, I want to share that it is possible for Shannon and others like my own sister who quit high school to still get the high school diploma that many union jobs require. My sister took the GED exam that when passed, which she did, gives you the equivalent of a high school diploma. There are on-line programs that will tutor you in the skills you need to pass it. It is definitely worth getting for anyone who doesn't have one. Shannon sounds like a smart and strong woman. She could get her GED which will open her horizons down the road for a better paying union job. I wish her all the best in rebuilding her life and that of her family.
9
The NY Times should be proud of its coverage of this story and others like it. Unlike the fake news promulgated by the likes of Fox, Trump and Bannon. We all need to read stories like this, look at the photos, and gain more understanding, empathy, and desire for appropriate action.
17
Congratulations to Farah Stockman for writing this superb article on a phenomenon of our times. It is one of the best I've read in a long time. The narrative is riveting, and the style is accomplished and creative. I felt like I accompanied the author as she interviewed the workers and explored the emptying factory rooms. My best to Shannon.
13
First, Good luck to Shannon's family. Nicole is making the right move!
This is not a new story. It was playing out back in the 70s/80s in Akron at the rubber industry where I was from and Youngstown at the steel industry where my wife was from. We both got educated and moved... At GE I learned to "control my on destiny, or someone else will". Thanks Jack Welch for teaching me that a company is not my Mother.
Having said that, I do not know where this sad American story ends...where is the new equilibrium in America capitalism? When does C-Suite/Board greed get capped? When do politicians actually decide to work together for the betterment of America and not themselves and their party first? Does it go to the point where revolution is the only answer... when people have nothing to lose... or do we find a new balance we can all live with? I don't know the answers, but I do know Baby Boomers need to step aside and let younger people with a new vision of the future guide our companies and our nation. Hopefully, they will have more humanity than we are experiencing now. We are never going back to the way it was #MAGA fans…
13
Great comment. My dad worked/retired from GE. I have grate respect for Jack Welsh. He believed in his workforce and offered many incentives, continuing education, stock, and most importantly a great work ethic which is a skill, not a given. When his job became obsolete due to evolving technology, he was offered training in a new area. You're also on point about, the fact we must look forward, because expecting the past to make a comeback is like a fairytale.
3
My husband retrained in a new field when he was 37. Years later he had to train his overseas replacement. I feel for Shannon's plight, but I do have some questions.
Why is training to be a nurse at 43 such a wild idea? Shannon was determined when she became a steelworker. Why not now?
Why can't Bub take evening courses for his GED to qualify for jobs? Bub's experience with his daughter would be valuable in the health field.
Many immigrants whose lives were torn apart and who were talented craftspeople, professionals and manufacturing managers at the same age as Shannon or older, were willing to learn a new language and train for new careers in other fields.
I see many male nurses in hospitals these days and there is no reason males should not retrain to be nurses. Many Americans who lost their jobs were willing to retrain. The world is once again changing as it did during the Industrial Revolution. People in Shannon's situation have to be willing to make changes.
11
Ho ho ho, Donald Trump is coming to put lumps of coal (he loves coal!) in American worker's stockings this year. Yes, he will create uncertainty and turmoil to undermine the ACA, which in turn will cause hospitals and clinics to close and many people to lose what insurance they have. Which will cause remaining health care providers to: cut costs! Because they are losing business, and not getting paid. How do they cut costs? Cheaper and fewer workers! Goodbye RNs and hello LVNs! Oops, still too spendy! Goodbye, LVNs, and hello CNAs! Donald Trump was and is a fraud and a chump. He will see to it that not only traditional manufacturing jobs are lost, but there will be fewer jobs for people hoping to re-train. But he is determined to give Mr. Adams a huge tax cut! MAGA!
12
This is an excellent piece or journalism and writing. Speaks volumes about the state of humanity...a sorry state, indeed. But where there is knowledge, truth, compassion, bravery, humility, and understanding, there is hope...there is the potential of change for the better.
4
Achingly beautiful story so well reported, showing there are no simple answers and sometimes no good answers.
5
Tragically, the very politicians that Ms. Shannon had hoped would save the day, as well as the donors whose charity towards her daughter's education she's so grateful for, are the ultra-rich shareholders that she was searching for to write to.
Outsource then automate. Just so more money can be made by a few for a few more years. What do you do eventually with all that money? How many houses do you live in at once, how many designer garments?
Finally, how many people and in which markets will be able to afford those goods created by the wonderful automated factories?
How long before frustrated masses break out into widespread violence?
7
And what did Micheal Richard Pence do for Indiana while he was Governor. He didn't care that jobs were fleeing his state.
8
Kind of like Mr. Obama in that respect, huh? Had she voted for Mr. Trump, she could have been deplorable as well in Mrs. Clinton's eyes. Neither party earns a gold star on this issue.
4
Had she voted at all, I would have a lot more respect for her.
Or was she lying to save herself the embarrassment of admitting she voted for Trump and he failed her.
3
Totally disagree with the depiction of Trump as "prince charm in a white horse", regarding the help his tweets provide. For me, he represents the greed of a capitalist elite priorizing profits over people. He doesn't care enticing the hate of americans against us, mexican people who have always seen in good Americans an ideal to pursuit.
Fighting ourselves, too, against corruption, corporations abuse, violence and oppresion by a voracious elite we acknowledge, nevertheless, that people from around the world and particularly from the U.S. are struggling to make a honest living and give their children a decent and better life. It is not their fault, nor ours, that the ambition and lack of respect for people of a few ambitious and unescrupulous at the top hurt a lot of families on both sides of the border. You can be sure, nevertheless, that here -as well as there- there is always a friend ready to extend their hands to help; and give a warm hug in times of need. May the bad desires of a few never undermine the brotherhood ties Mexico and America have between each other, and never tear us apart from the good people our both countries have. Those are my prayers.
6
This is too depressing for words. What's happening to your country, America?
8
I'm America no one has a right to a job (housing, food, or healthcare). You are expected to do whatever it takes to find one. Sell your house, move to another state, leave your family for part-time work at minimum wage with no benefits. Otherwise you are less than human. At the same time, the GOP Congress relentlessly tries to make employment (or seeking it) a condition for what remains of minimal safety-net benefits. A population of voluntary slaves makes for good business.
14
Well, that's Capitalism!
Instead of Scaling our problems across a few hundred million citizens to share the burden, we have pay for everything ourselves as we go. As our taxes only really pay for DOD and Medicare.
But you won't see the revolution because of folks like Shannon. When the professions of the upper middle class get automated, people will realize that meritocracy will never keep up with technological advancement. And, that realization has already happened for many of us watching robotics and Artificial Intelligence...
In a few years, two Africans will visit the bearing plant in Monterrey, Mexico...
2
I understand the dignity of labor and was sympathetic with this woman until the article noted that she did not vote. She was foolish. I've studied and been active in politics for a half century; nothing catches a politician's interest like a voter. If you choose not to play, you've marked yourself as a loser.
12
Both mainstream Democratic and GOP politicians are cheerleaders for the outsourcing of American jobs via trade pacts - voting for any of them would have made no difference in the outcome.
Only Bernie and Trump addressed the pain of workers left behind by corporations chasing big CEO salaries and investor income ...and Trump was given billions in free media coverage while Bernie was given little to none
2
Sounds like the quality of the new bearings are going to be terrible. I hope the company goes under and that this article, that will make sure the production problems that are sure to last for months or years will be blamed right on management where they belong, is partially responsible.
If it happens often enough, maybe the mutual funds that own the stock will tell management that their company's value is entirely dependent on the quality of their product.
Or maybe it will take a Ferris Wheel disaster and a gigantic lawsuit to take them down.
9
I'm very upset at what's happening to the workers at Rexnord but find this statement most telling about the mindset of some of the workers "Some white men complained that they’d watched their economic prospects decline for decades. They had shared their jobs with black men, then with women." Hmm ... How nice of them to share their jobs with the blacks and women.
Rooting for Shannon and her family who appear to be open to adapting and learning new skills to get ahead. Not so sure about some of the others.
18
First of all, I am Mexican, and I live in Mexico.
Having said that, I went to school and worked in the United States for 10 years. Despite my experience, it was difficult for me to understand why Mr. Trump had so much support, even after some horrible things he said. Well, reading the article helped me understand why. It must be devastating for people like Shannon to see their entire life fade away due to corporate greed.
This article illustrates that middle-class workers on either side of the border are not to blame, but raw capitalism is. The insatiable demand year after year for better returns by corporate shareholders is to blame. If only those jobs that move to Mexico would stay here forever; they will move to another country when the profits no longer satisfy the financial expectations from the top. I still believe Capitalism is better than other economic models, but it must be reengineered. If not, we have a ticking time bomb, everywhere.
45
Thank you. If NAFTA had been restricted to Mexico, the US, and Canada the problem would not be as bad as it now is. In fact, shortly after it was signed, other countries especially Asian countries were grandfathered into NAFTA, or other treaties were added that operated just like NAFTA, but incorporated extremely low wage Asian countries. So, you are right that jobs in Mexico won't stay in Mexico - they WILL move to Asia. As an Anglo who is sympathetic to Mexico, our historic neighbor, I hate Trump's anti Mexico comments, but he didn't create the problems we both face.
2
Agreed. Instead of just cheap labor, capitalism should focus on developing key strengths of each region to more or less create an even playing field. I remember when growing up in my hometown, Mexican supermarket stores like Gigante or Aurrera were the only ones available, selling mostly Mexican produce and products. Now, we have 4 Walmart Supercenters and 1 Costco, filled with US and Canadian produce and products. International trade is beneficial, but it must be controlled (I don´t like the word restricted) in order to allow the domestic infrastructure in each country enough room to develop the domestic market. Otherwise, industry consolidation takes place and only a handful of corporations control the world economy, able to make cold hearted decisions that affect millions of people around the world.
7
This is a very moving story. Still, I'm left with the feeling that the plant's closing was long foreseeable, and that if Rexnord hadn't moved the old equipment to a low-wage location, it would have gone to automation and fewer workers anyway.
Public money spent on education and incentives to new industries could have given these workers new opportunites.
However, this requires that the workers and their unions engage with a political party that can implement holistic and collective solutions, and here there seem to be a few things lacking.
3
Would tax breaks have kept these jobs here? Unlikely. The math is pretty straightforward.
If labor costs are 30% of a company's revenue, and moving to Mexico saves 75% of that ($6 versus $25 saves $19), then total cost savings are over $22 (75% of 30) every $100.
If taxes are 23% of the average profit of 11%, then taxes are only $2.50 of every $100 in revenue.
Even if taxes were ZERO, the logic of profit would dictate the move be made. And any company that did not move would be at a financial disadvantage.
5
This is one of the most moving stories I have read in a long time. I read much of it aloud to my 11- and 14-year-old children. I am grateful that you are telling these stories with the nuance and humanity they deserve. Please write an update on Shannon in six months or a year.
16
During WWII my grandparents worked in the garment industry. They owned their own stores and sold silkl dresses. Then silk dropped to 10¢ per yard, and department stores started to overtake the small clothing shops all across America. Everyone lost their jobs. It's wasn't pretty then, and it's not pretty now, but that's how it works. That's why social safety nets and flexibility in life are both so important.
17
Where is Trump on this factory closing today? Go back to him on it. And, what about Indiana's Senators and Congress person representing this district? What are they doing?
4
The factory closing, like most factory closings across the country, happened before Trump even announced his campaign.
1
I understand the bottom line is what counts to Corporations, but have we become a world whre the bottom line is all that counts? I guess we all are to blame. As consumers we want low prices, so companies move the plant pay lower wages and sell for lower prices. We are at a point Those jobs will never come back and pay good American wages. In time Mexican workers will be paid a fair wage and the plant will move again to a place where wages are lower. This is the World today.
9
This is the public info on Todd Adams' compensation - over $11 million for 2017:
https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=27...
Breaking that down into a 40 hour workweek, that's $11M/52 weeks/40hrs/week = $5,288.
"Training costs had gone over budget and needed to be reined in." They reneged on a one time bonus for Ms Mulcahy to rein in costs when they pay the CEO TWO THOUSAND TIMES that amount each year.
And is the $11Million a true reflection of what Mr Adams does for the company? Is it the true "market value" of his talent and work? Or is it just a way for him to keep score among his peers? I believe it's the latter - and this is the real problem with the modern American economy.
We saw this before, in the late nineteenth century. The Gilded Age ended not because the powerful came to their senses, but because the people, in the form of government and labor unions, put an end to it. Can we do that again? I'm not confident that we can.
26
Quality is fitness for use. Linkbelt makes bearings that are so high quality that they surpass the fitness part of that equation. I have a Linkbelt pillow block bearing that I keep around and have a used it for some modification or other of an old miniature tractor, a monkey ward with a plow attachment and A six tine wide rotor tiller attachment… Kind a looks like a dinosaur that should've gone extinct but didn't…
That Bearing block will never wear out in its current use.
8
Jobs have been exported for a half-century already and the same article could have been written in 1970. It was, in the late 60s and early 70s, wearing apparel and electronic assembly jobs. International companies have to compete with other international companies and, if labor costs are an important part of the price of the product, they will seek cheaper labor wherever they can find it. In countries with intelligent governments, efforts were made to make concessions to avoid unlimited job exporting and encourage economies to refocused on work where cheap labor is not a fundamental part of the output. America's "hands-off business" politics (both parties!) continued the job losses and even partial solutions were not even imagined. When a brainless country simply ignores an obvious problem for a half century, what do you expect.
5
I've earned 2 degrees and studied and lived in Europe, thank-you-very-much ...
At the beginning go the industrial revolution, luddites attacked the machines that were replacing very skilled labor. I recognize that the loss of manufacturing jobs is devastating to families and communities - but this simplistic notion that Mexicans - or others - are stealing these jobs is neither true nor useful. The biggest thing that has replaced manufacturing jobs is automation - just like the beginnings of the industrial revolution. And fueling racism and hate, and trying to turn back progress will not solve the problem of displaced workers.
5
In the battle between American workers lives versus stockholders escalating profits, which is more important to you?
Ask yourself that everytime you read about an "activist" hedge fund, merger, corporate inversion, hostile takeover, offshoring of jobs, or corporate downsizing.
In America the concepts of "doing good business' and the "costs of doing business" have changed significantly and every worker is now just another expendable cog in the machine.
Businesses threaten to leave if they don't get significant tax breaks to stay. They promise jobs to get those breaks but then quickly lower salaries or 'streamline' the operation to get rid of the jobs.
Labor costs are the easiest way to improve the corporate bottom line, and the conservatives actively seek to lower the incomes of every American but themselves and those that are as rich as they are.
only 1/3rd of Americans have degrees and flipping burgers does not pay the mortgage much less a car payment or health insurance.
Remember those things the next time you hear Trump et al brag about Making America Great Again, and you will see their real goal is to Make Americans Slaves Again., but this time to low wages and mega-corporations.
10
Great article, but the "Percentage of Unemployed Americans" graph needs a y-axis scale and label and an explanation of the numbers in white to be understood.
5
Another woman with an abusive partner who decides to have a baby with him thinking he'll change when the baby arrives. Never works.
13
What does man hating have to do with offshoring?
2
Miss the point much?
5
I thought that I turned out to be a pretty successful baby :) everything happens for a reason and I am blessed to have Shannon as my mom and Daniel as my dad. They had hard times but my dad was a wonderful father and I am fortunate that I still have Shannon as my wonderful mother. Blessings to you
13
It's funny the way people look at things.
Some of these people blamed the Mexicans who ended up with these jobs, instead of blaming the company owners who sold out.
This has been going on for decades, especially since the 80's.
And to believe in the likes of Trump whose owns products are made in China? Please. folks pay attention!!
I believe it was President Obama who pointed out that the reason many jobs are being lost in this country is because of automation, as he pointed to an ATM as an example.
He was laughed at and called a liar by members of the GOP.
But if people were paying attention to what their 'lying eyes' were telling them, they would have noticed a truth in what Obama was saying.
Automation nowadays and cheap labor has always been what this country was about.
Remember slavery.
Many people are now experiencing what many people in other parts of the world have been dealing with like forever.
If you have a beef with anyone, don't focus on the color of another person's skin. their nationality, nor their religion.
Focus on the POLS YOU keep electing into office who keep feeding you B/S to placate you.
Changes are going to happen anyways, prepare your children for that eventuality by having them focus on worldwide trends of the future as far as work is concerned.
But blaming workers like oneself is fruitless. They don't make policy.
27
Obama wanted to ship the few remaining jobs to Vietnam with TPP. And your beloved Obama expanded the H1B Visa program, which puts millions of Americans out of work. You were so busy anointing him as a saint that you forgot about that.
4
Isn't every Republican action related to women "a backhand across the face?"
16
Somewhere along the line, the vast majority of middle America missed the memo on higher education, not the quick degree scam type that is sooo popular but is utterly useless. Hello Trump “University”.
The rest of the developed world is educated. The questions we should be asking are, why did the majority of states keep their citizens ignorant? Why are they constantly slashing public education? What benefit do red state politicians have with a gullible uneducated populace? Why are people so against regulated capitalism?
Capitalism works if it’s regulated. Unregulated free for all? You’re watching it play out in the US right now. Keep your citizens ignorant, tell them it’s “the other” taking your job, keep them fearful, get elected on fear and lies, repeat. Instead of encouraging education (make it easier to get training, build up public education systems).
What we’re seeing now is a country having punched itself in the face repeatedly and now it’s brain damaged. Read White Rage by Carol Anderson. Restricting education so only white folks benefit hurts everyone.
17
Well, Mr. Trump, here is your chance to do what you promised.
18
Sounds like there is zero quality control in the Mexican plant! Our safety depends on the quality of that steel.
6
Shannon like many working class people finally accepts her fate in the end. A hopeful sign is that her daughter may finally get out of this downward spiral. That is something that all working class people hope for their children.
Donald Trump could not and would not do anything because he cannot. Yet Shannon harbors no resentment for all his false promises of help. Her conclusion is that he is just trying to help.
News Flash! Trump is not helping you.
20
You're mad because she's not a hater?
2
This article illustrates just one devastating affect of a cruel income gap. Now Trump is selling his "tax reform" to these same workers as a way to have more money to spend. Only higher wages will help the lower and middle class, not less taxes!!
13
I just don't understand how can one single CEO earn 40 million dollars while 300 jobs are cut? Let's pretend that the workers make 60,000 a year. That's 18 million total. The CEO still would've earned 22 million dollars while American jobs stay in America. Makes me really sick.
I also hope Shannon's daughter make it through college. Get good grades, graduate, start a career, and DO NOT fall for any guy and have a baby until she's settled with a career. Seriously, that can derail a woman's future prospect like no other.
23
This has become the norm - CEOs making outrageous amounts of money while laying off staff. I work at a small community hospital in Bushwick, Brooklyn and we're experiencing this now.
8
Kudos to anybody who reads all the way through this!
8
I read thru it. It's a compelling story.
6
I certainly did! It was worth it.
7
On a summer Saturday the year I was nine, I went with my dad to borrow a pickup from the little construction company where he was the accounting department. Once there, we encountered a Latino guy (we said "Mexican" in the day) using a push broom to sweep the equipment yard. I vividly remember the shock I felt when my dad went up to him casually, greeted him by name, and asked, "How are the girls?" Did my dad know a Latino by name?
Out of earshot, I asked: "Dad, do you know that guy? Who is he?"
"Oh, he's just a guy like everyone else, trying to take care of his family" was the answer.
A guy like everyone else, trying to take care of his family. So it was that I, a privileged WASP, learned the most valuable lesson of my life.
Many thanks to Farah Stockman for telling so forcefully the story of Shannon Mulcahy (and to the NYT for financing the research over a period of months). Ms. Mulcahy is but one of millions of good people who made America great. They are still there, suffering. Adoration of money uber alles, given voice by the comedian in the White House, is bringing us down, the rule of the plutocrats.
This is not Trump's fault. Our fate is is our hands. We voluntarily submit to the system that makes stories like Shannon's possible. Alternatives are out there (Bernie Sanders, for example). Sitting at home, isolated and passive, instead of marching in the streets ("What do we want? Change! When do we want it? Now!") explains the Decline and Fall.
Merry Christmas!
11
Please, will the commentators stop the apologizing for being “judgmental”.
The son quite school, his decision. He had a child he couldn’t support, his decision.
Shannon did not save or invest her $25.00 an hour wisely, her decision.
Shannon is still spending her limited funds buying non-essentials at Wal-Mart, her decision.
Shannon did not vote, her decision.
Shannon still supports a President who will do nothing to help her and others in her situation, her decision.
These are all examples of bad judgement.
Even Nicole, who may be the one to break the family cycle of poverty and bad decisions may be setting herself up for failure as two years at a less expensive community college and then transferring to a state college would help to alleviate some of the financial pressure she will encounter.
I grew up with an outhouse till I was 5 yrs old and am the oldest of 4 children, all with a college degree, only possible because my parents lived below their income, saved their money and put education first.
30
Everything that you said is true. Yet as malware installed on a computer removes the user's control, Shannon and her family are living out the program they are subject to. I think we agree education and discipline are key. But people don't stumble on these. They are values that are gifted. I think we should be searching for ways to help people like Shannon and her family embrace these values. A society cannot be like a lottery-only the lucky, that is only those born to good parents, have the right to the tools of success.
4
Would you post those snobbish little barbs against Shannon if she was black? I doubt it.
1
Totally agree, Solamente.
I have no problem with these people experiencing the consequences of their actions. I just wish they would stop breeding while they are at it.
1
Capital, including the dollars in her IRA, seeks a less expensive workforce. And the expense isn't just wages, it's the hidden costs of workers' benefits plus the costs of compliance with governmental safety programs like OSHA, environmental compliance and so on.
Not can capital fire such expensive workers at will.
One solution-- instead of unworkable socialism-- is to configure trade treaties and tariffs to integrate those hidden costs into their formulas.
Right?
2
So trade agreements are the answer. We have had tariffs for centuries and then our leaders, paid for by greedy corporations removed them and lectured us about the global economy. So now those unethical persons and entities are so concerned about the segmented American people that they will change laws and reduce profits to help all those that are impacted in the “Good Ole US Of A? As long as “We The People” allow them to create the narrative about our lives, this will continue.
Hatred for any one who is not like us or behaves like us has become the nickelodeon of our day. All the rock throwers hiding behind social media and the poorly educated have run the bus off the road heading for the cliff. Until we are willing to stop the idol worship of these unpatriotic leaders and institutions we will all suffer.
I make a good living in healthcare and watch very carefully as those without knowledge of the system have such grand ideas for destroying what they perceive as “give aways” created by a person not worthy of being President in their minds.
In America there is a segment of the population that is willing to suffer because they believe that by enduring these hardships others that they do not like or care for will suffer worst than they themselves. “Survival of the fittest”
2
For many, many decades Americans have felt that we are the only people in the world and that we saved the world. So we increased the minimum wage way on of proportion to the wages in other countries and overloaded the labor market by dumping into it under the pretext of " equality", which left the family and its children as sort of a part time hobby. We've been living in a la la world that better known as "social suicide".
The rest of the world will also be demanding livable wages. It's coming!
1
Excuse me, but the minimum wage in Australia is 16$ an hour. Wages in Europe and Canada are also higher than US wages. Some countries don't have an official minimum wage, or let it be controlled by unions, but it ends up be MUCH higher than the US minimum wage.
6
The thought that sits in my mind after my strong feelings for the family and the many families in similarly dire straits is the thought, captured in the essay, that the modern business model for CEO's makes the bulk of their pay dependent on performance. In the manufacturing arena, this means reducing costs and, of course, that means sending the "good American jobs" offshore. That way, stockholder value is maximized to the detriment of Rexford employees. While the CEO most likely got or will get a healthy bonus, well, thousands of US workers are trying to make their ends meet while deciding what to do in an area and era of diminished opportunities.
7
I lived in Iowa for a few years (college, subsidized by the state of IA for which I am forever grateful) and have ex-in-laws there. The article was well written, I think.
I personally drive a made-in-USA car, wear made-in-USA jeans, made-in-USA shoes (Allen Edmonds, the best) and a made-in-USA guitar and amplifiers.
But for many of us, the biggest single choice we can make that cycles money through the American economy is to buy an American-made car. The price of a car that goes into labor costs keeps a factory worker employed for four to six months. I was always puzzled at how many Iowans (and others, not just Iowa) I've known over the decades drive non-USA cars and do not reconcile this with their concern for American manufacturing.
5
That's fallacy. "American cars" may be assembled in the US, but the parts are not manufactured here. And when you buy a VW it was probably assembled in North Carolina. But, again, its parts or the majority were manufactured in China.
Another way to think about it - I know a lot about most all manufacturers of amplifiers today. There are boutique brands that assemble in the US (and design circuits). But, all quality resistors, capacitors and actual components that make up the amplifier are manufactured in China. There are some exceptions for chassis and transformers but these are smaller markets as they are only used in these amps and not scaled for broad use.
The best thing you can do for American workers is educating yourself and helping to educate others.
1
This is the essence of income disparity in this country. The middle class is losing good paying jobs. The executives at the top benefit from moving the work to lower cost regions, and therefore can increase their pay.
Also, this article is about the white middle class. The same holds true for the inner cities and minorities. The manufacturing stepping stone is being obliterated. We are the only country that allows this migration of manufacturing and it is reflected in our trade deficit. Germany, Japan, China; they covet these jobs and have policies to keep them in their countries. We run a large trade deficit with each of these countries.
The irony is that when talking to members of Congress, specifically the Pennsylvania Senators, Toomey's office, the Republican, was up for a border adjustment tax. It was Casey, the Democrat, whose office was vociferously against it.
Why are people againts paying $1 more for a tee shirt? Bernie Sanders was right and so is Trump on addressing this trade deficit. It is the crux of income disparity. It seems so obvious, but so many special interests are against addressing it, that I worry nothing will ever get done.
10
Reading between the lines, this was an old plant with inefficient cranky machines rather than a modern plant producing high quality goods via automation. After years, decades, of minimal investment in equipment and processes all they could do to keep the lights on was to try to get the same labor cheaper. If not the shareholders would find another business that would generate competitive returns. We need to find out how trading nations such as Germany keep enough good-paying jobs while we can't, despite s much more closed economy (less than half as much GDP as even the U.K. is trade.
5
Here's the root of the problem:
"In today’s model, chief executives like Mr. Adams get more compensation in stock, to align their interests with shareholders, who are now considered more important than other stakeholders. That’s why Mr. Adams made more than $40 million over the last six years, as he cut the cost of labor."
Businesses and whole communities die because of this, but it still continues.
10
The reason this article is so important is that it contextualizes the problem in a non biased way. Good luck to Shannon going forward. Everyone is rooting for you and America too. We do need to find a way to help the American worker, and improvements to our infrastructure are the key.
8
Everything in this country is now based on the wealthy and well-connected grabbing as much money as they can, at the expense of other societal amenities that make life worth living. According to the article, the Rexnord employees took pride in making a quality product that would function as expected. Will workers who are paid poverty wages and must worry about making ends meet care so much ensuring that their work meets the highest standards? This is especially concerning because the manufactured products go into defense materiel, where malfunctions cause tragedies. Is it wise to rely on cheaply made products from foreign countries? Consider the recent reports of defective steel produced by a Japanese manufacturer.
One small positive note: The City of Indianapolis has used money clawed back from incentive payments to help the workers with temporary living expenses, job retraining, etc. to help the displaced workers to the extent possible.
6
The offshoring of production, especially to China, is not only about lowering wages. It is also about avoiding environmental regulations.
For example, while the environmental improvement of Pittsburgh is stunning, we must remember that the pollution didn't just disappear from the earth. It was exported to China along with the jobs.
The solution is not to relax environmental regulations in the U.S. That would simply move us backwards.
The solution is to apply a "pollution surcharge" to products coming from any country with environmental standards below ours. This would help to level the playing field for U.S. workers and clean up the planet at the same time.
Trump conservatives and most liberals should be able find common ground on this idea.
13
The is a flip side to every story. The cost of many goods and services has never been lower. I need a new paring knife. Found a nice one China made for $3 in Walmart. The last one I bought was $10 and that was 30 years ago.
AND happily people can participate in the profits of the corporations via the stock market.
Sure times change. But you need to stay up with them.
1
Yeah, Shannon should really get on the phone with her broker so she can participate in the market economy and stop her griping. personally, I'd recommend opening an account at a bank that offers concierge services so she will also have time to get her spats laundered.
3
That $10 paring knife cost you $10 but lasted 30 years.
I wonder how long your $3 "bargain" will last.
1
I'll be perfectly honest--there are times I can't finish stories like this as the downward trajectory is apparent from the first sentence. Shannon's helplessness mirrors my own, in that I have no idea how to help my fellow citizens who face such hardship. I vote for national candidates who can help everyone and it is exhausting to see this pattern of union-busting capitalism run amok. Why are the shareholders never interviewed? Those who place their dividends above all else?
This is a brilliantly written article, not only for its blunt representation of Shannon's troubles but also because of its glimmer of hope. Things it doesn't say--centered around the son--speak volumes too. Anyone who thinks that health care is something you have to "earn" as opposed to a right should spend some time with Carmella. Heartbreaking. I'll echo what others have said: please revisit Shannon. This isn't the end of her story.
16
Not only she lost her job buy she might lose her insurance also thanks to the great manipulator. Shannon's case is sad but the answer is not to blame the worker in Mexico but to come up with better supported/subsidized training in the jobs of the future. My hunch is that cutting taxes for the rich is not going to do the job.
6
This excellent but heart-wrenching story illustrates what is wrong with our society in a system tilted to reward the rich while penalizing the poor. The CEO gets $40 million while his employees don't even get the bonuses they were promised for training their replacements. What is even sadder is that Trump's promises of restoring American manufacturing jobs are so much pie in the sky. It ain't gonna happen, just as globalization cannot be reversed. Hopefully Nicole will get a degree that equips her for the jobs of the future rather than trapping her in the past.
6
Lowering the production cost allows the corporation to compete in the world, I have changed job 7 times in last 20 years and the best worker protection one has is to be prepared and update your skill set. You can’t stop the rain, but you can have an umbrella. Wait for AI comes, there will be more disruption to workers, not just to American workers but to whole lot more...
3
This is a powerful article, and so is the book JANESVILLE by Amy Goldstein, which follows the lives of several families after the GM plant closed in Janesville, WI in 2008.
4
Perhaps the author can go to Mexico to interview the workers who got the jobs and what it means to them. Perhaps for the first time in their lives, they have access to running water, sanitation, electricity, medical care and education for their kids. Displaced american workers still have those things; or would if the Republicans stopped sabotaging Obamacare,SChip, and other safety net programs in order to cut the taxes for the domestic 1% who are by far the biggest beneficiaries of globalization in the first place.
5
Do Obamacare and sChip pay electric and water bills? Do they pay for car maintenance?
1
That's what my Federal income taxes have been going to! Fixing living conditions in Mexico for Mexicans. Thanks, I've been wondering.
1
I thoroughly understand & sympathize with Ms. Mulcahy. She, like many other Americans find they fall prey to life’s realities. As employees, aka, the 'American Labor Pool', certain truths must be accepted. American workers must accept that life in general is governed by 'the luck of the draw' [thanks to Bonnie Raitt], good timing, its time to retool, & nothing is promised to man, woman or child. That's real life for employees in America & in the world.
In contrast, the capitalists do not live by those rules, they have loyalty to no one & seek only to fatten their wallets. The best way to insure that employees continue to compete for available jobs, whilst maximizing their ability to fatten their wallets, its necessary to move those jobs around for cheaper labor markets & blame others. Asia, Mexico, Alabama, wherever. Others are of various races, creeds, colors, sexes, ethnics, education levels, ad nauseam. Unfortunately, many members of the American work force do not understand the whys of their predicament & mistakenly buy into political policies which are contrary to their interests, simply because a particular party talks about 'personal responsibility', a code phase for 'nothing is promised'. Interestingly, America, via the Constitution, Bill of Rights, jurisprudence, civil rights, freedom, promised to level the playing field to protect those who cannot protect themselves from the slings & arrows of capitalism. Hence, voting for DJT & his ilk, should never be an option.
4
It is very concerning to me that this is happening and wages have become stagnant.
A shining example is myself. I happen to have a master's degree in the sciences and I make slightly less than 25$ an hour whereas the woman had made 25$ an hour. I feel corporate greed has something to do with it...
4
I grew up in a small Ohio city filled with people like this--people who struggled but took pride in their work, were loyal to their companies and didn't ask for anything. Their reward? Shipyard went south; steel mill all but closed; Ford plant gone; industrial crane company bought up and closed by an international company. And on and on. Many Americans who didn't grow up in these kinds of places don't understand the way people like this identify with their employers and their job. It is a shame that loyalty has been a one-way street for so many and for so long.
11
Where was this article before the 2016 election?
Glad it's showing up now but it's a day late and a dollar short.
10
I'm hardly a Trump supporter, finding the man repulsive and dangerous, but nothing in this article would have done anything but increase anger at the status quo candidate who assumed she would be easily walking into the White House. This country is being hollowed out to nothing more than a warehouse-and-retail shell, and the anger about it is real.
7
Most jobs left the US long, long before 2016, and Obama wanted to offshore even more jobs via TPP.
3
Many people point out the benefits of unions and I agree they made a tremendous difference in American workers lives. However, they also became BIG business, controlled by the mafia, and worker benefits became secondary to the controllers' power/payback. In a word, American unions have outlived their purpose for average American workers and it's time to move on to a new business model.
People have to stop waiting for "jobs" and develop true employee-owned, community oriented companies where each worker shares equitably in responsibility and profit.
Yes, BIG manufacturers have sold out America and the American people who gave them their success and profit with OUR hard work and hard-earned taxpayer money (via tax exemptions and taxpayer funded social benefits such as roads and schools.)
They have created an opportunity for small, local, employee-owned companies, with no outside investors or unions to siphon off profit, to manufacture/grow everyday goods that people need. These companies will be built with sweat equity and determination.
BIG is no longer better. BIG is going to self-destruct very soon. WE THE PEOPLE need to be prepared to survive and thrive when BIG tries to take down the world. NOW is the time!
9
This is NAFTA doing this. NAFTA was passed by Bill Clinton although it's inception came about during GHW Bush's singular term.
You know what else the revered Clinton is responsible for? The housing and mortgage crises sparked by his policy and implemented by his HUD secretary Andrew Cuomo. Yes that same Andrew Cuomo who now puts up a needless bridge so he can name it after his daddy, the worst governor that New York ever had.
8
No, Mike, GREED is doing this. Greed for profit at any cost with no social conscience.
26
Trade unionists tried to tell our government that NAFTA would cause huge problems for workers. They ignored us. Ontario is still losing factories that are moving back to the US or straight to Mexico. It is strictly motivated by costs. Greed took our jobs and we got dollar stores. More part-time work, wage reduction/stagnation, reduced or no benefits...that is what NAFTA brought.
7
This is our economy where Creative Destruction moves the economist’s beloved aggregate forward while the lives of the workers left behind are creatively destroyed without so much as a care for their future.
This our world, where profits are more important than people, where shareholders distain community, and where the lust for unearned income by the shareholder ruins society.
This is our world, and this is our undoing.
Michael Bain
Glorieta, New Mexico
23
This story and many like it are just the tip of the iceberg of what is to come. Everyday robitics takes another step to replace humans in everyday jobs. I hope the best for Shannon and her family but I also wish more Americans would lean some lessons from these stories. The first of which is you don't have to have children when you're still a teenager. You also don't have to marry the first guy or girl you go to dinner with while you're still in your early 20's. And finally, if you are younger than 40 there will be no retirement money for you. It's only a matter of time until the Republicans realize their ultimate dream and completely kill off social security. So plan ahead, save and don't spend your paychecks all in one place.
16
With student debt, longer lifespans and stagnant wages, it's completely unrealistic to expect someone under 40 today to save enough for their entire retirement life with no external assistance whatsoever. This is not a personal responsibility issue.
3
I worked at that very plant in the 80's as an engineering coop student. I still know some of the folks on the floor and feel for them. I think this could have been avoided.
The company and union had an incentive program that allowed shop workers to make more than base pay by producing more parts. However, whenever they started producing more than about 40% over the engineers would re-rate the machine and basically set a higher quota. So in the end everyone ran their machine to about 30% over and then stopped.
Imagine if the company and union had some worked together and taken advantage of the full skills of their workforce. Opportunity wasted...
25
Nice article,very touching, yet it contributes to distort the fact that of the total trade deficits America has with the world, only 8% is from the trade deficit with Mexico, 70% is with China, for every job that has gone to Mexico 10 have gone to China. America will not solve the trade inbalances by bringing back mexican jobs. If what is wanted is a real and lasting reduction in trade deficits, then China should be the objective, there 70% of the trade deficit is produced. Yet, PresidentTrump is not willling to tacle that, because he needs China to help with the North Koreans.
13
Nafta was negotiated under Republican presidents. It's unfortunate that Bill Clinton signed it then it was used to attack Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. When Obama was in office he tried to impose tariffs on companies that move jobs overseas and bring back their products here. The Republicans in congress refused. They said that American businesses must do what they have to do to remain competitive globally. For the life of me giving total control of the federal government to the Republicans is on par with putting a fox in a chicken coop as night watchman. Unfortunately many of these people listen to right-wing talk radio and believe the unions and Democrats are the enemies. They also see President Reagan as a deity who rose into heaven. Once he fired the air traffic controllers he gave the green light to private companies to bust up unions. Now we see many states with right to work laws. Even that term is glib. What it comes down to is the companies have the right to fire you while you have no union to protect your rights to work.
15
Right to work, more like right to work for less!
7
Obama expanded the H1B Visa program, which has destroyed millions of American lives, and he also pushed TPP, which would have offshored even MORE jobs to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and the Philippines.
3
This is very real and heartbreaking. It's not just in Indiana, it's all over the country. When you are older and a senior employee, no body wants you, interviews are scarce, and usually it's no replies to applications. I live in an area where there is no work, and have been struggling for 10 years. This story really hits home.
12
Twice in the past 10 years I moved to where the works is. If you want to stay where you are you have contend with the decision.
2
So, it costs nothing to relocate? And relocating is going to help a worker over 50? Stop blaming the victim, please.
4
The day will come when all good paying blue collar jobs in the USA are gone. Then the lower paying service worker jobs pay will spiral downward, unemployment will rise to staggering proportions, the majority of America's workforce will no longer be able to afford everyday consumables. When this happens the USA will be a Third World Country and the jobs will return, allowing the vicious cycle to repeat itsellf. This is the battle of the haves and have nots, and has been playing out since the beginning of time.
11
I predicted this job loss thirty-some years ago, and I have news for you. It's too late to stop it. Millions more jobs will go offshore or to robots.
Our or more likely you're only hope is to either property rental or become or work for an entrepreneur in some start-up venture.
2
One of the best written pieces on the subject I have read. The owners used to have a shared interest in the health of the town, mostly because they lived there, albeit, in the big house on the hill. How joyous that capitalism has long since removed that inefficiency.
sigh.
12
That big NYC insurance/finance company known by its initials that was propped up by the federal government has moved many jobs to India and had them trained by the workers in this city. Don't think it can't happen to you, smug white collar workers commenting on this story.
20
It's happening in all fields.
7
Everyone who finds this insightful - I'm glad you learned something but where have you been? None of this is remotely surprising if you have paid any attention at all to the economy and corporate world, or know any people working an industrial job.
We must exist more in our bubbles than I thought.
15
Absolutely excellent article! I want to read many more pieces like this that tell the true story of america and the world.
15
Did she/will she find a job? Let us know.
The awfulness of what occurred is not new - indignation aside, common sense says (yes yes I know common sense is not real life) that companies who move 'offshore' should be required to find employees new jobs at a pay and benefit scale at some generous percentage of what they were earning.
6
Dream on. Upon your exit, your company is not obligated for anything. And if they do place you somewhere in the company, be assured that it will not be a comparable position but rather a very less desirable position where they will expect you to voluntarily resign with the loss of any payouts and severance pay.
6
Thank you Ms. Schukar. Insightful, comprehensive, and very well written indeed. It documents the era remarkably well.
5
In so many levels, one of the most wrenching pieces I've read in months (though I probably wouldn't say that if one of the fires out here had actually taken my neighborhood). Pulitzer material.
The gradual demise of a great country presided over by Nero 45.
Real capital is in the inventive hearts and minds of people who, well-fed, clothed, healthy and educated with the best "tools of the day," earn their keep and security solving the actual problems of the complex workings of their society. These bright minds and bodies, our fellow citizens, are the greatest wealth of all, to be cherished and appreciated, not thrown to the curb.
14
No social obligations. Just throw people away.
3
Excuse me, but how is this particular lady's situation Trump's fault?? The wheels to offshore her employers facility were put in motion probably at least 5 years before Trump even considered running. Offshoring has been going on for decades, and Obama did NOTHING to stop it. In fact, his push for TPP shows he probably ENJOYED the misery working class people are enduring.
It's not just blue collar jobs that are moving. My job moved to Ireland and I wasn't asked nor able to move. I was laid off, unemployed for a year and found something less interesting, less pay and less seniority. It's not only blue collar workers who are struggling, it's everyone whose company has decided to "synergize", "adjust to scale" or someone other corporate speak for reducing costs to "bring value to shareholders"....
30
we hear mexico and china are taking our jobs all the time....the products they make are poor quality....blah blah blag
but if u really look management behavior....they are choosing this.
it is the purchaser that purchases the crappiest thing they can so they can get all the income from it they think they deserve...until another purchaser has the ETHICS to provide a reasonable product for the same price....
I think a lot of this is tied to how students are taught to run businesses...it is what i call the MBA ethic....there is none. only the limits of the law and that is really just a technicality as well. they are taught one thing: normative behavior.
99.9% dont even know the models they apply let alone understand them...just catch phrases. they can only be described as mostly spreadsheet jockeys manipulating the cell values they see.
13
I'm around young people with bachelor's and masters degrees. I swear they come out of school on a major power trip. Entitlements are in, experience is out!
4
This is how the ownership society works. The boss gets $40 million, the investor class gets bigger returns on their wealth & the working class gets screwed. Donald Trump won’t change this, he’s part of it. So are the financial guys in his cabinet and the wealthy individuals supporting his presidency. To the 20% of western society working people are commodities no different than any other aspect of business. Useful when needed, disposable when not. Watch for the college educated to disparage Shannon in the comments because she doesn’t have a “degree”. There is skill and intelligence in using your hands and mind to work well. We’ve forgotten the dignity of work that many of our forbears understood but has no quantifiable financial value. A world run for the wealthy and designed only for their benefit is unbalanced & unsustainable. It nurtures and promotes desperation while encouraging the Trumps among us. Don’t blame those who get your job as they are just trying to live like you are. Place the blame where it belongs, with the financial class where no amount of wealth is ever enough.
33
I am a highly educated person and I agree with everything you noted. But having an elite education is NOT a straight path into the 1°/°. There are tens thousands of people like me (or even more) who have seen their income decimated, been unable to find appropriate employment in their field and experienced the catastrophic losses described in the article. The belief that only blue collar workers are suffering is not correct. We all are due to lack of response by our government to laws and policies that continue to push money to the top as well as the erosion of workers rights and protection of the middle class. There is absolutely nothing wrong with working with your hands, but the issue of economic inequality is not being born by only blue collar workers, white collar workers are experiencing the same devastation. We need to use this fact as a unifying force and not a divisive one.
23
amen.
I don't think anyone reading this story would disparage Shannon. A "degree" does not make you callous nor a member of the 1%, in fact for many far from it. Most people with degrees are in fact employees not CEO's and are just as disposable to the corporate heads as the employees on the plant floor. Otherwise, you are pretty much spot on about "ownership" capitalism run amuck.
3
Production facility location follows profits.
In the end, its all about profit, investor money, class struggle, and the built-in problems of capitalism and deleterious social Darwinism.
Welcome to the precariat underclass, Shannon Mulcahy, and the millions of US citizens just like you.
12
It's really like you're being punished for working all of your life and building yourself up.
4
This is the result of Bill Clinton's and GH Bush's NAFTA which hurt people like this and benefitted their donors. It's practically traitorous.
Now we understand why the current president wants to have nothing to do with TPP, the Trans Pacific Partnership, which would do to the American worker in regard to Pacific trade what NAFTA did as to North American trade.
Apple is America's most valuable company. When is the last time you saw a USA-made Apple product?
13
You wouldn't be able to afford it as of right now.
2
I am very happy to see the NYT publishing these windows into middle America. I hope they publish a lot more, because there are a lot of examples like this out there. These are real lives being destroyed by a system. This comes pretty close to "selling the needy for a pair of sandles".
Real leadership is about setting a good example. Maybe if NYT hammers this picture over and over, politicians will finally recognize that the laws really do need to be changed.
14
I agree and only hope there really is power in the press.
1
I thought I was adding a sequel to "Hillbilly Elegy" reading this wonderful article about the transformation of "Hillbilly Heaven to Little Mexico" One often hears about the miraculous rise of the Chinese Middle Class, how the Chinese have lifted millions of their citizens out of poverty since the liberalization of their economy by Deng. What one doesn't hear is that the Chinese (and Mexican, and Vietnamese, and Indonesian...) middle classes were siphoned from Indiana (or Michigan,or Wisconsin...) It did happen under both Republican and Democratic administrations and it was fueled by international capitalism and money, money, money. But here we are. And what to do?
Trump, Ryan and the rest of the Repubs don't have the answer (obviously) but what about the Democrats? Does Warren or Sanders know how to fix this? Does Krugman, does Franken? Until Democrats figure this out they are going to be saddled with the hypocrisy that comes from their being enablers of the same forces that created these problems for Shannon and her family.
16
How could anybody fix this? What corporation would give up profit to spend more money on any type of production work? Honestly, people need to work to exist, and the need benefits to take care of themselves. This is exactly what was gutted in 2008 and still continues. The workforce is an expense, a liability, NOT a value to sustain a company product or brand. It is a very sad and greedy mentality.
Hi Carl,
Um, well, actually, the Democrats do. They understand that these forces won't be turned back, and that it is far better to expand education for skilled trades and the technical jobs of the future, and be dynamic, while freeing the population from their healthcare policies. But it requires a dose of truth and soul searching by folks in Shannon's position, to hear it. They have to more willing to learn new skills, and adjust to different fields, just like those so called 'elitist' city dwellers do. They are going to have to graduate from high school.
What if spending power of workers increased by 15pc what would happen to our economy then!
Till workers realise they have the power to trash these people via the way they spend money they will continue to be impoverished and bullied. Imagine reducing walmarts earnings to 0 for a week and only resuming shopping on condition no one is fired. We can make the wealthy dance to our tune.
Power to the people!
6
This has been going on for more than 25 years and the plight of these folks were ignored by the mainstream media for all that time. Let's not forget that both parties supported NAFTA with Bill Clinton making a strong push at the wire for passage. Although almost 20% of the nation agreed with Perot in 1992 that manufacturing jobs would be lost to Mexico, it took 25 years and a wake-up call from a populist outsider to get this story written. No. Late is not always better than never. The greatest damage is done. Only now does the media seem somewhat concerned. Where were you for a quarter of a century- having a latte?
15
This is a stupendous article, describing the heartless ravages of unbridled corporate "free trade" and unregulated "globalization," which benefit the rich at the expense of everyone else. Unfortunately, this doesn't prevent the Times Editorial Board from blindly supporting those policies. It seems that money and class consciousness trump the national interest every time.
8
She didn't vote because she doesn't have a good opinion of politicians. I can well understand that. And since our politicians and president(s) see no reason to work hard at stopping this flow to other countries but are furiously working overtime to cut any social networks and especially the ACA that people such as Shannon depend on, she has every right to think politicians are all liars.
So far, we are being lied into poverty for far too many,
3
Very depressing story. Capitalism and Globalization have left many behind. Does anyone think this will end well. If people wonder why Trump won all they need to do is read this story. Life can be hard but if you can't even get a GED it's going to be very hard. Private Equity is the other dirty secret that is tearing apart manufacturing in America all so a select few can make a killing using the US tax code.
7
Incredibly sad story but hope may be on the way. Trump's team is taking a very hard line on NAFTA according to recent articles in the NYT. Which is a good thing if you are working in US manufacturing. Yet I am puzzled by why Trump's tax plan is still insisting on a major tax break for the CEO of Shannon's former company who is walking away with a $40 million dollar pay day. He doesn't need it. In addition, I don't understand why he has gotten rid of the Chip program and AFCA which is there to help people like Shannon and her family. Its the old bait and switch wrapped up in the American flag I have come to expect from Trump and the Republican party. I don't know whether to cry or take a knee. Great story NYT.
7
I once had to train my replacement after I, too, learned my job had been outsourced. It was hard. I feel for Bub and Nicole and especially Carmella and Shannon. She had a tough life and it just got tougher.
7
There is a fundamental problem here, which is not being addressed. When Ms. Mulcahy looks for the elusive faceless "shareholders" who are about to destroy her life, she should actually look in the mirror. Yes, in the modern capitalist world, we are ALL shareholders. Ms. Mulcahy considers using her 401(k) to purchase her home, but does she know that a 401(k) is money invested in bonds and equity? Her 401(k) makes her one of the "faceless shareholders" focused on maximizing returns on three-letter stock tickers. She and her fellow shareholders are the ones that empower their CEO to make outsourcing decisions and who have paid him 40 million dollars over a decade.
This is the huge fallacy of the modern capitalist system.The system makes us simultaneously victims and perpetrators of our own fate. We - the "shareholders" of this globalized economy - always want to purchase cheaper goods, which puts pressure on retailers to negotiate lower prices with their suppliers, who their margins cut razor-thin by foreign competition, until they are forced to outsource manufacturing and lay off American workers. And this pressure to outsource comes from the SAME PEOPLE who will suffer from the outsourcing - the SAME consumers/shareholders who simultaneously demand always cheaper goods and to maximize the value of their 401(k) investments.
We have put ourselves into a short circuit from which there is really no way out, other than radically changing our entire capitalist system.
10
The irony is the issue stems from unregulated capitalism, yet the Republican mantra as to the "cause" was and continues to be "too much regulation". This is Republicanism, where politicians are essentially the proxy of big business and finance, deregulating and allowing U.S. big business to go elsewhere in search of cheaper labor and environmental laws BUT then to have unfettered access to the U.S. market for increase profits. The U.S. market thus becomes just another orange to be squeezed dry, until it produces that ultimate commodity, cheap labor (and political backlash against environmental laws. Trump and the Republicans have exploited the discontent (literally going back decades tracking along the geography of the rust belt) to swing the electorate toward varying shades of white nationalism. But the ugly truth is the white nationalists in the White House and Congress will allow the business and finance oligarchs to call the shots, while continuing to crush any kind of Labor movement, and anything that would legislate against polluting industrial processes. The American people have to understand that it was crony Republican politics that catered to the richest of the rich, and big business/finance, while destroying their collective bargaining power as wager earners, that created this situation. Not over regulation, but just the opposite.
7
A well written story of the American dream being shattered by a ceo trying to achieve his annual bonus package. I’m wondering when politicians, any politician is going be honest with us about what the future looks like. These jobs aren’t coming back, the wealth gap will continue to rises, fewer will control more of the wealth and rest will be left to struggle with less and less help. Maybe it’s time for the Democrats to lead for a change? I get the feeling these folks understand where we are headed and would welcome and honest assessment with realistic solutions? Maybe being naive, but what else do the dems have to offer at this point?
5
I've read many many articles such as these, and always the blame go to the greedy factory owners, upper management and politicians. Very seldom have i heard ask: Why does American labor cost so much, relative to the less developed world? The US, with 5% of the world's population, consume 20% of the world's resources. We should ask ourselves: How much of that 20% is actually needed to be happy? Jobs won't come back to the US unless it's workers can be competitive.
2
You live in SoCal, so the answer should be obvious. In case it isn't, look at your mortgage statement.
4
Great article.
The stock market at an all time high, wealthy men running the country giving each other huge tax breaks, workers getting no part of it. This is clearly not sustainable.
9
The most heart wrenching truth is that if the factory invested in modernization it could produce the bearings at higher quality and lower cost than in Mexico with a somewhat reduced work force. The operating company is maximizing potential profit while minimizing investment. The story is told over and over again in every industry from food to high tech. This formula is taught in every business school in the US. The reward system encourages our managers to follow the formula. Lemmings running towards a cliff.
5
Trump’s focus on protection will hurt all consumers while failing to address the root problem. For 35 years policy reforms and structural adjustment in one
country after the next have brought many hundreds of millions of workers into the global economy. In the US, wage stagnation and job migration will continue until the global labor pool is fully integrated into the world economy and wages throughout the global labor pool equilibrate. Once this process is complete wage differences will reflect policy and risk differences across countries. Until then, the US needs to focus on two things: recognizing that most people benefit from trade and taking action to retrain and relocate those who lose their jobs.
This is an excellent piece of journalism.
Our consumption economy is consuming us. Our obsequiousness to capital is what's destroying our nation. It's the likes of 45-year-old Todd Alan Adams who makes $11 mil a year. It's the Republicans who destroy unions and exacerbate income inequality. It's nefarious oligarchs like Trump who bamboozle the masses to do their bidding. It's the consumers who only care how much they pay for something and how small their taxes are.
This will be our downfall. Shannon's story is a metaphor for the entire country's story. I shudder to think it is time to move on.
28
American labor, move over, step down to 10 bucks an hour and train a foreigner to do your job so you CEO can get his 10 million dollar bonus. Live the American Nightmare!
19
Her job did not move to Mexico. It was moved there by the greedy, unpatriotic owners of the business for which she worked. Do not blame the Mexicans for this. Every one of the American jobs that was lost over the past several decades has happened because the companies that moved overseas. The Mexicans did not "take" them, and I am offended by headlines such as this one. All these problems is the result of unfettered capitalism, and The Times seems to be part of it.
16
Sorry. Once I read that she did not vote and rooted for fake forty five she sealed her fate and I lost any compassion for this woman. Shannon, vote the next time and remember to NOT vote for a sexual assaulter and a bully. Pols may seem like liars (and many are; Fake of course is a serial liar), but you should learn about what a candidat3e has done on key issues for you.
14
Yeah right. Like this stuff doesn't happen when the Democrats are in power. She didn't vote because she knows it makes no difference. The entire system is rotten and ALL politicians are doing the bidding of their masters. That's why Trump is in the White House today. And worse it may be yet!
7
Isn't this kind of story coming a bit late, maybe one or two years, when it still had a chance to stirr up debates in both camps, and especially be brought to the attention of the top of the Democratic campaign?
What would Hillary have said?
Just wondering...!
3
This was an amazingly well written article that really captured many facets of Shannon's life experience with focus on topic. This, of course, is a result of the Global economy. For the future, AI and robotics will replace many jobs, but it is key for those with limited education to focus on things that AI and robotics can't replace and that can't be outsourced. The information is out there if you look. I had a similar experience when a company I worked for was bought by a larger company. i ave the new company everything they wanted - basically the keys - and they screwed up the human resource environment as I expected. Although I was out of work and on unemployement for nine months, the time I got with my new born son was invaluable. I think the difference is that my mortgage is $630 a month and I had no car payment on the aging but reliable entry level Honda - and of course children who were healthy ( The situation with Carmella in this article is very very tough). part of me wants to reach out and help Shannon plan and budget - the ketchup/shopping thing is hard for me though. And sadly, part of me wonders about Bub?Bud - please very young people if possible - think twice before having children if you have no way of supporting yourself. I know I should slap myself for being judgemental - but this is just where my mind led me in thinking about Shannon's situation. Most happy for Nicole though. Finally, union high paying jobs will all be at risk at some point. Sorry to say.
10
Of course your mind led you to being judgmental. It's a self-defense mechanism to convince yourself that YOU'RE never going to be in this situation; you buy generic ketchup, after all!
Shannon cannot save her way out of her financial problems. Blaming her won't save the rest of us, either.
2
When you run a story like this, you might consider archiving the Comments, too. Historians will need a stream of contemporaneous feelings to understand how this nation felt, at a particular time, in a particular person named Shannon.
But make sure you find a way to weed out all the bots.
9
This is why reading labels matters. Made in America - buy it!! Made in America for a few dollars more - Buy it. You are supporting yourself and your country in the long run. Don't need it and made someplace other than America - put it back on the shelf! Americans have sold Americans out!! Don't wait for DJT (he uses imported cheap steel, and his products and those that his "family" products are not made here - and he hasn't done a thing to change that) or the democratic party or anyone to solve this. Want jobs here?? YOU hold the key -- not made in the USA? No made in the USA alternative? If there is a made in the USA alternative - purchase that product, if there isn't a made in the USA alternative is it something you need to survive?? Yes? purchase, no put it back on the shelf.
7
The other day I was at Walmart, looking to buy some socks. The "Made in America" socks cost less than a dollar more for a 6-pack. It was a no brainer
2
So many readers complaining about Donald Trump; he didn't invent capitalism. In fact he is trying to scrap NAFTA which is responsible for the loss of many US jobs (and also responsible for destroying small Mexican farmers, leading to their drug cartel epidemic and gangs--and illegal immigration to the US).
3
Nobody here cares for analysis. They want to support their pet cause. Their identity.
2
The problem is lack of regulation in the capitalist system not trade. And, you have a better chance if being hurt by a peer (white person) than you do by an immigrant.
1
NAFTA, and the disgusting greed of CEO's, all at the cost to blue collar and middle class Americans.
7
It would be good to have more stories about the working humans who were Trump voters to understand how they don't belong in the deplorables basket.
9
What a revelatory piece. Shannon Mulcahy has "...the milk of human kindness." (Shakespeare). How do you reconcile her humanity with Trump's savage audiences itching for blood during his campaign rallies?
7
Bravo! At last the NYT has ventured into the lives of ordinary Americans rather than those whom it considers this month's fashionable minority.
Who knows? More stories like this and the editors may be able to grasp why otherwise sane people voted for Donald Trump. They may even be able to turn their agenda-based reporting toward supporting rather than demeaning those working people who were born in the USA, work hard, pay taxes and worry about their jobs. Maybe then politicians on both sides will design policies for people rather than special interests.
12
@lacey..it is called depression. The woman gave her all for her job and her family..When it all collapsed on her she gave up. How many people have endless resiliancy. She was betrayed on the $5,000 bonus. She knows she is going to lose her house unless she cashes in her pension plan....in Canada cashing in the equivalent incurs a lot of income tax. She really has no other supports...community or in her family. The son sounds depressed too....often young people of the working class without the means of a trump...fail to launch...no.daddy propelling them into a lucrative business.
7
Im sure something much better will come along for a lady so talented and kind. Finally Trump is waking people up to the true nature aof BigBusiness by his broken promises
No president really has much power, if any, to influence this situation. It is regrettable that some candidates indicate that they can.
Ironically, globalism is pure conservative thought. Free-market conservatives believe that markets will eliminate inefficiencies if a factory such as this one cannot compete; and labor markets will adjust to create the skills people need to get jobs. The more liberal view is that the labor market adjustment takes too long and hurts people in the short run; skills retraining would help remedy this. Trump ran on a populist ticket that was far more liberal than people realize.
Note that Trump still builds hotels outside the US, but I guess his supporters forget about that — to say nothing of Ivanka’s sweatshops in China.
9
the mid-west is the new (old) south.
I've lived in both extensively (SC mostly).
Tho 3rd world poverty and ignorance exist in rural arears, blacks by sheer numbers are represented in local government and positions of power, business ownership, and in the middle and upper class in the south in larger percentages than I observe elsewhere in the country... and most especially deficient the in the mid-west. in most metropolitan areas, the south has acquiesced to a practical, even cordial truce, impelled by business pragmatics. if you want to know what the south was like 30 years ago, move to the rust belt (Mike Pence's Indiana epitomizes) where anachronistic class and racial segregation, homophobia, academic and work ethic mediocrity, and white entitlement is emphatically conspicuous.
4
See the quote below, all you need to know. White entitlement and resentment along with poor life choices is causing serious harm to white working class. That's hard for people to hear though.
____________________________________________________
"Many of the black workers talked about the factory’s closing as an opportunity to go back to school or start a business. Their attitudes mirrored national polls that showed blacks to be more optimistic about the future. For them, the days ahead had little chance of being as bad as the past. Even those who declined to train refused to bad-mouth the Mexican workers.
“It ain’t their fault,” Mark said.
12
" No one harbored illusions anymore that President Trump would save the plant. Shannon didn’t hold it against him. “Everybody’s fighting him,” she said.
She did worry when she heard on the news that he was trying to roll back a federally funded health care program that Carmella relied on."
Trump talked about jobs, and despite the fact that the Mayor of the city he did his business in told you he was a con, you really thought he was going to help you. And then he tweeted, but still no help came.
He and his party are doing everything they can to take away your grandchild's health care, and still you think the problem is that "everyone is fighting him."
Yeah Shannon, we are fighting him. We're fighting him FOR YOUR SAKE. We're fighting him because we want you to have food stamps now that corporate America has left you in the dust. We're fighting him because we support the unions you belonged to. We're fighting him so that your granddaughter won't be denied medical care. We're fighting him so that your daughter is able to finish her college education without being a hundred thousand dollars in debt.
I'm not saying the democrats are perfect- far from it. But as long as you keep voting for republican candidates who consistently work against your interests (or not vote at all), I can't help you. Stop listening to tweets and start looking at policy. If blue collar America wants a better life, they need to stop being naive in the voting booth.
44
The message reinforced for me in Shannon's story is that most of us vote with our gut more than with our brain. (Read Kahneman.) Dems won’t win until they reach people viscerally.
1
Obama said he would put on his walking shoes to join the labor picket lines. He never did. He and Clinton courted the Wall St criminals, the ones sending the jobs away.
So don't tell us voting Dem is the solution. They continue to use Labor in elections and ignore them once they've won. Dems are every bit as bad a Republicans on Labor. They are stockholders, like Nancy Pelosi, who got insider information on VISA's IPO and was exposed by 60 Minutes news program.
6
Obama put many worker protections into place only to have them rolled back immediately but DT. I would rather have a national leader making laws to help me than have them on the picket line with me. Grand gestures mean NOTHING without action. Obama tried but was blocked at almost every turn. He had to write EOs which are now reservable. He put restrictions on Wall Street so it couldn’t happen again...we all know what DT did about that.
The disconnect from reality will be this country’s intimate downfall.
2
The book "Glass House" describes the demise of Anchor Hocking Glass. It is so similar in every way to this town and these beautiful people.
5
The daughter goes to college on a full boat scholarship , the son did not finish high school, has never had a steady job and lives with his mom. It is not just this generation represented by Shannon, that has been thrown away, the sad and scary truth is that there is a whole lost future generation of young men that are doomed to a life with no hope.
6
A generation lost? Or a generation of white males who were able to skate along like this and still get good jobs, while women like his mother had the doors slammerd in their face because they were women. Or black.
These angry white working class males need to take a look in the mirror, and ask themselves why they can't crack down on the books like their feamle siblings, and get a skill. If you don't want to go to college, become an electrician, they make solid good money, but it is a REAL skill.
4
Ah, yes. Hedge fund capitalism. Root hog or die, but you can die no matter how hard you root. Eye on the bottom line, especially that labor cost. Squeeze it harder and harder. What happened to American workers? In Hedge Fund capitalism, they aren't workers; they're a number. Community? Where is that in an Income Statement?
11
Dear Ms. Mulcahy, I admire your courage, your intelligence, your fortitude, your commitment to loved ones, your humility and your dignity. As you transition to another career, I respectively suggest considering becoming a Congress woman. You have the experience, the deep knowledge of what your district, state and America need. You have the perseverance to tackle and overcome astounding challenges. You have pride in your work, in your family and in America. Consider the benefits. Healthcare completely paid for you and your family for the rest of your life and your children's. Existing medical issues are no issue. You and your family will receive the very best medical care no matter the cost. Unlike the job that you had at the ball bearing plant, being a Congress woman is not dangerous. Further, many of your meals will be free and you will have access to exercise facilities specifically for you (and you will have time to exercise). You will earn a more than descent wage and be able to afford the cost of living in Washington DC or Georgetown. If you decide to run for Congress, I can assure you that women and men across the United States will support your candidacy financially and physically. You are the kind of real American we need in Congress and in the Senate. Let the NTY know , they will undoubtedly report your decision to run for Congress and we will show up. I promise.
10
My experience with American management is for the most part negative. They are obsessed with personal power and don't care about productivity or the bottom line. I visualize a monkey coming out of the jungle boasting he has an MBA and bullying the workers who are smarter than him. I can give numerous examples but Trump has proven the point.
9
The beautiful thing about capitalism is that people who run businesses poorly lose their money and do it keep running the business. Someone with a more successful approach beats them out competitively.
Compare socialism and communism in which their is no feedback loop that's takes money away from a government that spends money poorly. Witness Illinois on the verge of bankruptcy controlled by politicians and their is no way to stop giving money to a broken system.
2
Maybe the "bring jobs back to America" was too much of a generic statement as Mexico is part of America. Cmpanies are moving to Mexico in a flash despite what politicians say or promise. Soon the Mexicans will be building a wall to preserve their newly achieved wealth once the offshore process is completed. Look at the booming Asian countries and realize this is what the profit-greedy executives and dishonest politicians caused. They moved (or let them move) manufacturing and businesses in Asia and that just yielded less money and overall fewer opportunities here. We had seen the "yes we can....but we won't do a thing" now it's time for another show, shame only very few will laugh....and more and more will have their lives on the line.
Jobs were saved at Carrier only after the State contributed $millions in property Tax credits as an offset for Carrier. Political Flim-Flam.
Shannon is a very special person. I can only wish her and her family well. What a well written article. The times they are a changing and not for the best!
.
5
I agree that Shannon is a very special person, but she should have voted and she should have tried her best to be an informed voter at that. Thinking that a lifelong millionaire/billionaire knows anything at all about blue collar lives was naive. Trump loves to fool people he considers rubes and hayshakers, and too many blue collar workers bought the hype.
6
Realistically, had Shannon voted in the last general election, how could her one vote have altered her circumstances?
It could not have. Your belief that it could cones close to blaming the victim for what massive impersonal economic forces have done to her.
1
My father worked for Bendix after the war. In the 50’s & 60’s Bendix made the best Coaster Bicycle Brake in the world. In the mid-60’s the brake production was moved to Mexico. Today the Bendix Coaster brake does not exist. Dad told me if I ever went to work in a factory he would kill me and he was a fine sweet man, but I believed him. Through all the years of my life I have watched this program of moving jobs out of the country or replacing people with machines continue. We are now a “service” economy. I have never been sure of what that meant. I have always thought that if we quit making things, before you know it, no one will have the money to buy anything...with the exception of those who can buy elections!
9
As someone who wasn't born in this country, whose parents worked in factories because they didn't speak English it always blows my mind that Americans who have been here for generations chose to work in factories. It never occurred to my parents or to my brother and I that we ever would. Manufacturing, coal, and steel have been dying industries for at least four decades. Too many Americans prefer blaming anyone, mostly foreigners, for not educating themselves better, or learning the skills necessary to adapt to the realities of the last 40 years. As someone whose parents literally came to this country with nothing but their clothes on their backs I have zero sympathy for people who were handed the lotto at birth - born white and Christian in America - that want to blame everyone else for their shortcomings.
19
I'm so sorry. Heart breaking story. We do not need to wonder why Trump is president after reading this. He knew just what to say to a whole lot of hurting, desperate people. Trouble is, he is one of the robber barrons too.
Corporate greed. Almighty stock market and investors. This story is sickening. Prayers for all the good, decent people who are steam rolled over and left out to dry so yet another CEO and his management team can make millions. Disguesting.
9
Just one story of corporate success in the United States.
Just one story within that success of the devaluing of the product, sacrifice and loyalty of U. S. workers and the loss of their livelihoods to the juggernauts of global capitalism directed to short term greed and propelled by algorithms.
A story retold countless times within two generations.
2
The US is full of these stories as our government supports globalization and mandates ever increasing operating costs via regulations and micromanagement of things they do not understand.
“I’m not mad at you,” she said. “I’m happy that you get the opportunity to make some money. I was blessed for a while. I hate to see it go. Now it’s your turn to be blessed.”
This from a worker who is getting replaced because the fund managers want more bang for their buck! She is a better person than most.
27
How galling, the way in which these people are so disposable. Global capitalism, indeed.
6
This story basically pertains to NAFTA which trump is trying to end...not honestly and directly but by being weasely and dishonest...by poison pills. One thing in everything I have read there is no mention of NAFTA visas which were brought in allowing people with certain specified credentials to work for specified periods of time in the NAFTA countries. A big category were RNs. I believe there are many Canadian RNs working in the US under these provisions. I wonder what happens there if Trump ends NAFTA. A more likely scenario is trump makes it impossible for Canada or Mexico to accept his demands so he does not lose the support of the 300 Chamber of Commerce heads who do not want him to torpedo NAFTA.
1
The economic security enjoyed by many NYT readers who, years ago, jumped on the education train is based on the fact that most Americans did NOT also invest in themselves through education. Conveniently, the "haves" of our society do not respect the heartfelt, uneducated views of the "have-nots" who supported anti-establishment candidates, like Bernie and Trump. Those benefiting from globalization think they know whats best for those who suffer under it. It's despicable. They further ignore the environmental and cultural destruction that globalization brings to the developing world, over time. Just as long as Lake Erie is clean.... so educated and yet so blind.
4
I have had American employees and Mexican employees and I would never hire an American over a Mexican. Why? Mexican employees show up early, ready to work, smiling. They work hard. They do not spend all their time peering into a cell phone, demanding time off. or offering useless opinions on how they would prefer to complete a task. I will look forward to a time when unskilled workers are replaced by robots, considering that I can't even get a drive through order at Panera served without checking each item and sending it back for what I ordered. I would be more sympathetic except I was very poor, worked very hard, and taught myself a valuable viable skill to succeed. Why anyone would depend on an employer to provide for them is beyond me except they are dependent people instead of initiators. They remind me of plantation slaves who want freedom but still want the plantation to completely provide for them. Sorry, but I just don't see where anyone in this article is worth $25 an hour plus benefits.
6
I use a power wheelchair. I've purchased three of the same model since 1995. My current chair, purchased in 2011, will soon be replaced. By a different brand. The reason? My current chair is manufactured in China. The previous two were not. I discovered its origin after I went through three motors in as many months as they repeatedly failed. I asked, too, about the chair's incessant squeaking. I was told manufacturing moved from America to China. Fast forward six years to this year. The techs at the shop where I buy/repair my chairs and I were discussing this unreliable device, and they told me that the company that made it was prevented by the FDA from selling wheelchairs during the three years right after 2011. It was too unreliable, a problem for equipment that can often mean life or death for its users. That, along with the last few paragraphs of this NY Times story, causes me to wonder how many other failures, on items less regulated than medical equipment, have caused injury or even death as a result of the corporate drive to cut costs at all costs?
During an unrelated conversation earlier today, a neighbor who teaches high school told me that over the past few years at least ten of his students have told him that they didn't want to live in a world like ours where people no longer have value. What does that say about the generation that preceded theirs (about us) and how we allowed their futures to be stolen?
5
In the end, these high priced bearings stamped with Link Belt and which represent the craftsmanship of these skilled laborers are likely to fail and crumble under the weight of its users. What if these ball bearings are placed in the cars we drive, planes we fly, trains we ride, or the nuclear missiles or submarines that are supposed to defend our country?
This is the other downside of global capitalism. Ball bearings are in every machine and our dependence on quality now appears secondary to the interests of shareholder return on investment. We won't learn about this quality issue until the accidents, investigations, lawsuits, media reports are played out ten years from now - way past the time for the stockholders and corporate execs are richly rewarded.
Would you buy a Link Belt ball bearing after reading this story?
12
People in Indiana should have listened to HRC. They needed a sincere wonk willing to work toward a new economy, not a reality show host full of hot air and lies. Sad.
19
Look at the graphs and the data. The likes of Rick Santorum who keep denigrating the value of higher education should be ashamed. The proof is now incontrovertible for a lifetime of gainful employment.
7
This is a culture perpetrated by US companies and the reason for this is the massive greed of the top honchos, Presidents, VPs and regional leaders which hold equity in the company. The only way to reduce this is therefore to ensure for every such lay off, the equity of C suite folks is reduced proportionately and their tenure shortened. These layoffs will simply vanish.
2
I hope the inevitable lawsuits against Rexnord for cheating people out of bonuses all go to court and the workers win. Are you 4,000 workers in Milwaukee and other places watching?
This article highlights the value of health services for children. In some states the federal numbers don't look so large, but CHIP and the others are never accused of cheating the patients or abusing them like the Veterans Administration has been.
We can cut back on some things, like ditching Obamacare - which was intentionally written to devastates American workers - but these programs for kids need to be funded, and their service provider payments probably increased.
3
Evidence, please, of your assertion Obamacare was intentionally written to "devastates [sic] workers" rather than, say, insure the greatest number of people possible. Standing by....
1
Wake up America. The same is happening locally even if the company doesn't move. These days they are operating with minimum employees and hiring temps to fill in for a few years. Then when the temps get too expensive they move to a new temp agency for cheaper labor.
4
While the way this woman and her coworkers have been treated is shameful, and I believe the CEOs of this firm and other vulture capitalists deserve nothing less than the death penalty, this article also leaves out many things. It says nothing about her opinions of major political issues, and what she has done to educate herself about them. In particular I would like to know:
Did she oppose Obamacare when it was first launched, because it would make That Man look good?
Did she vote for a regressive like Mike Pence for governor?
Can she still not see that Trump is not fit to be called a human being?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then I guess I am not so sorry for her.
8
She didn't vote. If she had, sounds like she would have votes for Trump, a President who is impotent to effect changes she would benefit from (solar panel manufacturing plant, anyone?), or cruel enough to effect changes that would jeopardize her access to healthcare and possibly her disabled granddaughter's access to healthcare.
She didn't vote.
6
I feel sorry for her, but the the cost differential between hers and foreign workers' are just too great for her company to survive and compete. Trump or no trump, those kinds of jobs ain't ever coming back. Sadly, that is just the harsh reality of living in the USA, the craddle of capitalism, that the strongest and smartest will survive and thrive, the weak or those who refuse to adapt will die off.
3
And, if you are college-educated and thinking this insulates you from having your job shipped to a foreign country, think again. Many jobs requiring a college education are being out-sourced to foreign countries because the work can be done online. This is happening more and more to older workers who are more of a burden on a company's health care plans.
Without good-paying jobs in this country, how is it that we will not become more and more of a welfare nation? And how will be educate and train our children to be competitive in the world market without the tax dollars collected from good paying jobs. We are and spiral downward.
4
I wonder whether the executives have any clue what a blow to quality, and thus to actual total costs, this kind of disruptive move causes. Are they so myopic that they just look at lower labor costs and don't see that there is no good way to completely transfer all this know-how and end up with the same quality at the new location? I think part of the answer is they don't care because they get paid based on the stock price, and short-term accounting figures can totally mask long-term costs.
9
I find it maddening that this article largely doesn't address how a significant portion of these jobs DIDN'T go to Mexico but rather to McAllen, Texas. Does South Texas not count as part of the USA? I'm from that area and I think it's problematic how little attention major news outlets give to us, almost treating us as if we're the same thing as Mexico. There's a big difference between moving jobs to McAllen and moving them to Monterrey, but this article just brushes that difference off.
9
The American Dream we are told is slowly dying. Economists have newly branded ‘Canadian Dream’ where low / low-middle income families have a better, untethered opportunity to move up socioeconomically.
Shannon's story gives a face to globalization, to Middle America seemingly withering, apt of progress.
During these glum days of decay, Shannon's story offers a glimmer of hope. She is sanguine and hopeful. Her story is modest, yet compelling, marked by a moment of grace when she un-obligingly helps a Mexican worker.
But what is progress? Must I, an immigrant, anchor my despair for an antiquated American Dream? A dream where coal, gas guzzling Ford trucks, and an anti-green economy are the keystones to progress? No, I see a propitious set of global opportunities for me, for Shannon, and for Nicole. America has leaned on meritocracy, advancing a nimble brand of capitalism.
So, America must transform rather than long for an ephemeral past. Middle America has not set its foot forward. Canada did so miraculously with multiculturalism. Ireland, embracing European workers leading to the ‘Celtic Tiger’. ‘Asian Tigers’ fledging in growth within the global economy. These places, by in large, look to the ‘other’ with meekness rather than superiority, cooperation rather than disdain. Shannon and Nicole’s story gleans a future of America. Helping the ‘other’, while transforming one’s self through education.
Work ardently, live supportively, thrive creatively.
1
One wonders what the governor of NY was thinking. Or, any other politician from that area. In this situation one feels the pressure of an obscene capitalism lusting for more, willing to go through any change to achieve that end.
Now, who are these people (stockholders) who caused this race of more profits? Right now, they are faceless. But it should be brought up.
Why aren't local politicians ready to stand up for plans (for American industry) that Trump has devised. That must be answered.
1
This is a story that all need to ponder. Shannon and her colleagues are living examples of the serious disruption of transition due to the reality of our economy. However there are some additional realities that come to mind. First, those Mutual Fund Managers who own the shares of the stock are investing to generate returns for 401Ks and Pension funds for public and private entities. If those funds do not generate sufficient returns the consequences for retirement plans is significant, this is not simply to benefit a few rich individuals.
Second, manufacturing jobs are not the only ones that get lost due the restructurings, people with college degrees who work in Finance, I/T, HR etc. are regularly displaced. The skills are more readily transferrable, but often require a move to another location and less pay. A college degree is no guarantee.
Third is that in the economic reality, no business operates for the sole purpose of providing jobs to people. Success is about generating and regularly growing profits. The job one does is not the job one owns.
Finally, the story shows the global interdependency of the our life and livelihoods. The Mexican who now does Shanon's job is simply trying to advance his life and that of his family. The practical generosity that Shannon showed out of respect for them is both admirable and an example of the kind of generosity that we need toward each other and that policy-makers need to show to ease the transition.
9
Who could not be moved by this story, and root like heck for Shannon and her family? Retraining, retooling, etc are good, but emotionally, change is really hard and stressful, especially when identity and pride of craft are on the line too.
We need to understand that our nations greatest resource is its human capital; if we can enhance, train, educate, and support the health of our people to maximize their potential and their dignity, we will truly triumph as a nation.This goal can't be achieved With rampant income inequality and trickle-down economics. When President Obama sought a bigger economic stimulus in his first term, Republicans blockaded this initiative. Such a stimulus should have led to greater infrastructure investment. In truth, effective government regulation and investment are the only plausible counterweight to unbridled, greed driven capitalism. Unfortunately, the idea of government as the problem, not part of the solution, has been sold all too well. Shannon and family are mighty strong, and I admire them.
8
"It's not my problem anymore."Surely not only hers!How can we help this hard working,fellow American-person-daughter-mother-grandmother-girlfriend-friend-fellow-worker,among other roles? Each with its own responsibilities.Ups and downs.To face that there may not be an adequate solution.Soon.Or at any time.As elected,and selected,policymakers continue with their mantraed-words. Enabled not to take any personal responsibility for not carrying out what their roles "demand."This article vividly describes yet another "face" of our ongoing, violating WE-THEY culture and world. "Acculturated" into the belief of schooling,at whatever levels,and daily work, for one's adult life,its expectancy being longer and longer,will "guarantee" a good life.And a retirement of well being.Few of these "working THEMS," and some,or many,of US,have been helped,formally and informally,to prepare for an ever present reality.Of daily uncertainties. Unpredictabilities. Pervasive randomness operating in so many ways.Lack of total control.No matter the qualities,or levels,of what we do.Or how often.This fellow human BEING, and her fellow workers,Americans in this very upsetting,descriptive narrative, are yet another violated group who are being used, and misused, by individual and systemic stakeholders for their own agendas.They are also an opportunity for each of US,in our various roles,networks,neighborhoods,communities to contribute to make much needed changes for equitable-well being.For ALL of US.
"Shannon didn’t vote in the election. She considered politicians to be liars. But she found herself rooting for Mr. Trump."
I guess Shannon got what she was rooting for, Trump.
For real world solutions. Build up alternative industry. Tesla/Solar city is cranking up at glass mfg plant for solar roof tiles.
On the labor cost differential, a tariff system based on health care provided, pension provided, labor laws would even it out a bit. US might see a tariff against it as Western Europe would like score better than US. Add in environmental regulation costs that would provide fairer competition.
4
These stories are very real and very sad however I wonder what the solution is. If the free market is left to do what it wants this is what happens. If we want to create a false market we have to impose heavy regulation in the form of tariff and price fixing. Trump and the GOP really want to let the free market run wild with little oversight, Shannon and her friends were sold a lie by trump and friends.
6
Being well off is more than a pay check. It's also respect. And that's a scarce commodity now. It always was so for some people, but now disrespect is a national characteristic. That Trump could strew lies before people as my mother used to strew grain before her chickens is obscene. More obscene is that so many people had a level of world-readiness so low that they believed him. And many still do. But this appalling mess has been decades in the making--ever since the post-WW2 industrial boom ended, (called The Glorious Thirty by some French economists). The ending may have been slow, but it was obscured by a torrent of news, like OPEC, Watergate, Iran hostages and Reagan's years in the spotlight, the fall of the USSR... etc etc.
3
Completely heart breaking story. Here we see, yet again, the very dark side of capitalism. The war against labourers has gone on like this since the days of Charles Dickens and Karl Marx. Profits can be gleaned by taking advantage of cheaper labor pools. Hence all the stuff made in China, etc. Very disturbing but well written essay.
3
We could use a tax plan that encourages businesses to invest in and remain in the United States. Allowing companies to expense capital expenditures is one way to do that. I would invite you to notice that autoworkers in places like Japan and Germany make ~$40/hour, yet they remain highly competitive.
4
Dear Ms. Stockman, Thank you from the heart of America for telling a woman's story, a middle America story and a real American story. You crafted a compelling tale of struggle and triumph, of courage and fortitude, of perfection rising from the imperfection of a daily life at the mercy of an unrelenting tumble in the Tocco of life. Congratulations on your Pulitzer, clearly well deserved.
Dear Ms. Schukar, Thank you for bringing Ms. Stockman's story to life in your brilliant photographic essay. Your images were so compelling, I searched for more and discovered that it is You who has been bringing us one stunning image after the other - thank you for the gift of your vision, your view into the very soul of the matter and then sharing with the world.
5
This is not about stopping globalization or automation but how our government responds to this reality. We need strong policies with adequate funding that provide training, education, temporarily income, relocation funds and of course universal healthcare to allow people like Shannon, a remarkable woman, to work and live with dignity and respect. Shannon and people like her don’t want a hand out but a helping hand.
4
Thank you illustrating the heartbreak of job loss in America by focusing on the closing of one factory. The causes are many, and the solutions are not simple. But dedicated people like Shannon are certainly not to blame.
Automation, robots, outsourcing and bad trade agreements are part of the problem. But an even bigger piece of the puzzle is the compensation that the owners receive. In the 1970's the top paid CEO's earned 20 to 30 times the average annual salary of the workers in their industry. Now it is 200, 300 and even 400 times.
Tax policy has a lot to do with the disparity in income. And tax policy could be used to raise workers wages again.
Unfortunately, the tax plan proposed by Trump will only create a larger gap between the workers and the owners. Trump has captured the imagination of displaced workers like Shannon. Yet his words and his plans are completely contradictory. I just wish he would stop lying to us. I wish he would level with the American worker and admit that he's a billionaire and he's going to take care of his own.
Donald Trump is an unbelievable salesman. He has sold the American people a bill of goods which he has no intention to deliver. People like Shannon need politicians who will have the courage of their convictions. Trump has neither. I can only hope that she and her fellow citizens who are struggling will support candidates that will really help them. I hope they realize that Trump is not that person.
22
People who are in the USA pay a price as the USA want to run away heavy industry.Consequently, the worker of heavy industry will be suffered.I don't think that lawmakers can do anything.
The executives who make these decisions never have to suffer from them. It's strictly dollars and cents. Patriotism is irrelevant. It's a shame. I despise Trump but I recognize these people's desperation though they jumped to a bad decision that hurts all of us for decades to come.
4
This story is the predictable outcome of the toss away consumer society we have become. I feel for Shannon and there is plenty of blame to spread between her company, Wall Street , and decades of trade policy. But the elephant in the room here is all of us. Every time we buy an appliance, furniture, clothing, etc. because it's the cheapest without consideration of where it was made, quality, or lifespan- we send a clear signal to every company what we really want from them. There are costs to our society and environment to only looking at price. We are living in the economy we asked for and should have predicted.
5
As the world continues to move towards the use of more technology and stockholders continue to demand increasing profits from corporations, the corporate executives will continue to maximize the use of technology and find the cheapest labor to operate that technology. To compete for the available jobs in industry requires new and higher skill levels, not just 4-college degrees, but technical school and community college training. The availability and affordability of community college should be an incentive for those with the desire and motivation to seek out and take advantage of the training opportunities. The low-skill jobs of the 50s, 60s, and 70s are gone and the current low-skill jobs that Americans don't want to take are taken by immigrants. To be competitive, people must have higher skill levels.
1
Plant closures usually come down to Capitalism 101: labor is a bottom line expense to be reduced.
If I can get some people to do a satisfactory job at $10 an hour, maybe without benefits, why pay someone $15 an hour? Better yet, off shore it or automate, which is what is happening,
The American worker cannot compete and be able to live in the US economy. If Chinese workers earn around $4.00 an hour (and that is generous - see link), then American workers would have to take about $6 an hour (the "extra dollars offset shipping exp) = $12,480 gross before taxes per year. One simply can't live on that in America. There would be no one left to buy all the junk that they are producing.
This is a simplistic example, but it does illustrate the absolute heart of the matter.
https://www.google.com/search?q=average+wage+for+chinese+manafacturing+w...
Laissez-faire capitalism is a failure. The principle behind laissez-faire is that the less the government is involved in the economy, the better off business will be – and by extension, society as a whole - the GOP mantra. The free market. Globalism has allowed capital to go...global. How do we provide decent jobs at home?
This is the issue that needs to be debated in the upcoming elections. Sanders began the debate, now progressives need to expand it and educate the workers. I sure don't know the answers, but someone needs to at least ask the questions.
4
I feel for the industrial American worker. But is there not a kind of extortion going on here? Ever since the election last year, an obsession in our country over the plight of a select group of American workers has dominated discussion in our country. Let's stretch our imagination a bit. Is it fair to punish American farmers and their ability to access export markets because we want to supposedly help our industrial workers by limiting imports (never mind that it's unclear that an import substitution policy will actually lead to more jobs)? Such policies assume the pie is fixed, and force choices that dont need to be made, like Farm Belt vs Rust Belt.
Lets help our industrial workers by rebuilding entrepreneurship in the industrial arts, elevating our retraining regiments, and transforming our safety net to liberate Americans to pursue their dreams, not just as comfortable cushions for the twilight of their lives. But lets not guarantee the outcomes, because thats a surefire way to diminish the competitiveness of our businesses and workers. Which leads to less jobs, not more, and less income, not more. In this era of globalization and automation, now is the time to double down on our workers' ability to compete in the world amd give them the resources to fight back. Withdrawing from the fight in the form of tariffs and less trade is pure surrender.
4
It is tempting to blame politicians for the decline in labor's bargaining power. It is also a dangerous form of denial that encourages society to put off addressing the profoundly challenging problems that result from a decline in necessity for muscle labor and the virtues of hard work by muscle laborers. Indeed, the relative decline in value seems to be working its way up the ladder. More and more jobs up the chain seem to be at risk of becoming unnecessary. It is also fatuous to tell Shannon to get a college degree. We need to look for some way she can find a sense of self worth without having a job that is actually necessary to the global economy. That will take several lifetimes and one version of that new reality was ably described in Brave New World. If there is a better model we should look for it. Denial will not get us there.
1
Congratulations to Nicole on the opportunity to attend Purdue, and I hope she makes the most of it and chooses a field of study that will actually lead to a job. That said, education is important, however it's a fallacy to promote college degrees as the answer. There will always be people who are not able, because of ability, inclination, etc., to go to college. We do need people who are skilled with their hands, who know how to make things, etc. They should be able to access a decent standard of living as well, in exchange for their hard work. This is why we need universal health care and a focus on the problem of income inequality.
19
Saddening.
2
After all she's been through she still believes Trump has opposition. YES. HE. DOES. The opposition is to stop him ending HER granddaughters healthcare. please wake up.
7
Reading the comments we blamed China/Mexico/South this and that, low skilled high paying jobs days are gone due to automation, competition. The good old 1950-1970 years when most of the world is still recovering from WW2, had to buy from USA. AMERICA is getting richer, it’s income per capital is almost 50% higher than Germany, but where’s the money go ? German workers seem doing well. we can’t stop capitalism, global trades, but we can share the fruits better with our own citizens.
43
But its much, much easier just to blame someone else for our problems rather than face them.
1
If hack politicians use the thousands of pages in the tax system to destroy the employers, the jobs will fly away on progressive unicorns. You need to read up on revolutionary Russia century ago to see how a nation can be punished when the government decides to simply eliminate all the employers and investors.
The people of Russia are basically living the sparse lives that their ancestors lived when the progressive-socialist Soviets took over.
OBTW, Jesus is real.
Libertarian-inspired capitalism; profits uber alles. Destroy communities--price of doing business. A dead-end on every level: workers, environment, consumers, etc. Labor is expendable to those who own the means of production. Therefore, it would be best if workers created cooperatives to rid themselves of the exploitation and nerve-wracking uncertainty of working for big corporations. Cooperatives offer stability, a living wage and humane working conditions. Their time has come!
19
The low tax states are also stealing jobs from other Americans. The jobs aren't all going out of the Country. Then these same states take more Federal tax dollars than they put in the kitty. The States are all run by republicans and vote republicans. Trump conned the Shannon's
and Shane's of rural America. He will only be making things worse for them.
45
The man himself was saying "make America great again" while wearing ties from his OWN clothing line that are made in Mexico. But they thought he'd try to save their jobs. Right.
64
I was blown away by how many of his supporters didn't see (or maybe weren't aware of) the irony.
4
I can't imagine he would ever wear anything from his own line, but who would? It's terribly cheap looking regardless of the price. I've read he mostly wears Brioni, but off the rack because he's just a regular guy. Never mind that an off the rack Brioni suit starts around $5K.
1
Canadian Sears just went bankrupt...12,000 out of work...no pension...no benefits i.e. medical...btw Canadian medical does not cover many things. Many had already lost jobs through previous rounds of store closings. THE USA SEARS WAS USING THE CANADIAN SEARS AS A PIGGY BANK SIPHONING CASH OUT OF IT. Canadian Toys R Us is also in bankruptcy....NOT DUE TO AMAZON BUT CORPORATE RAIDER SHENANIGANS...AGAIN SIPHONING THE CASH OUT.
My personal opinion is that Amazon is not as big a factor as we are lead to to believe....deliberate mishandling of viable business....so many people barely scraping by and no money to shop.
16
The good America where people cared about each other is dead. We keep racializing everything, but the only color that matters is green.
Makes me thank god I have a degree and I work in Marijuana. Cant outsource that....yet.
10
I have relied on Mills wirewound resisters for decades. They had the reputation to be the lowest noise and have the best sound quality for audio equipment. Then two years ago, I bought a bunch and noticed that they looked different. The color of the coating has changed. I found out that this new batch was made in Mexico. The company was bought by the electronics giant Vishay, and I am sure the same thing happened. They moved the manufacturing to Mexico. The quality was terrible. They became noisy within months, whereas the original ones in the equipment were good for 10 years. After having to keep replacing them with new ones, I gave up and changed to using Caddock. No more problem, although they are more (much more) expensive. But after factoring in the time I spent and all the replacements, they end up being much cheaper.
So let me ask these American manufacturers; what is your brand worth ? Could you imagine Rolex or Rolls Royce moving their manufacturing to Mexico ?
52
I can see a lot of companies moving if perceived economic pressures are there. Small story: Baldwin pianos moved much of their production to Mexico, and though the new employees (who, as the article says, were good people) worked very hard, quality problems bedeviled the marque. Baldwin then moved production back to the states, but it was too late. No more Baldwin. Mexicans are not lazy or dumb, but you can't just dump people into skilled positions and expect immediate results. Factories outside the US are also becoming more and more automated, so the problem is only spreading: fears and fantasies are driving things towards a cliff. Add 3D printing into this, and the novel 'Makers' looks wildly optimistic.
3
I wonder how many failures of industrial equipment and/or heavy machinery will result from Rexnord's move to Mexico? Hope I'm not nearby when that happens.
1
It seems to me that the people of Indiana and elsewhere in the rust belt ought to get together and brainstorm about exactly what it is they want to offer the world. Manufacturing is not coming back, and new jobs aren't just going to fall from the sky. Training every single female to be a nurse is not the answer either - it is not enough to make a community competitive in today's economy. People of the rust belt need to generate some new ideas on their own if they hope to have the standard of living they have gotten used to. Sorry, but it's a Darwinian world, and that's just how it is.
14
Yes Mr. Lonestar. It is. And your lack of any concern for your fellow citizens epitomizes why our nation is declining. Where is the sense of community and connectedness that used to be a mark of the American spirit? If we do not together figure out how to help the people in this “rust belt” community and every community across our nation we will all sink together. Sure businesses can move to low wage markets but where will be the buyers of those businesses’ products when the middle class disappears because there are no jobs? Darwinism can impact nations too. We need smart people like you to help theses people find real solutions. Unless you plan to move to China or India.
3
Lonestar wrote:
"Sorry, but it's a Darwinian world, and that's just how it is."
Said Lonestar, right up until the day his job was outsourced to some high-tech foreign sweatshop and for his 2 weeks severance he was forced to train his own (temporarily visiting) replacement. Steel, textiles, IT. These are not obsolete markets. Here's another Darwinian-type observation. You make hundreds of millions of people into serfs who serve the very few and you can expect a violent revolt.
4
In addition to the points made by other commenters, I was struck by two things: the pride so many workers took in the quality of their product (that must have been a loss, too), and the way the company underestimated the workers' accumulated skills and attention to detail.
54
I'm a teacher at a very privileged public high school. I can't wait to have my students read this article. They will be stunned that a peer at Purdue relied on scholarship money to attend the school. THANK YOU NYTIMES to your commitment to good journalism. please keep these types of stories coming!
44
Show this article to neo-liberal economists like Paul Krugman, Larry Summers, Robert Reich. All heavily involved in globalization and the sell-out of American labor. Good economics doesn't always make good policy. American Labor may lose their job, but they can still vote. The mission of our politicians is not to raise living standards in the 3rd world, but to represent the interests of their American constituents.
16
You obviously are a fan of Laffer et al and their voodoo economics. BTW none of the above mentioned economists are advocates of making fellow citizens suffer, in fact they are enthusiastic advocates of taking care of all citizens
4
What we learn from this article is that so many of the workers who left the plant and even the Mexican trained found other jobs, some of them as good or better, some worse, but still jobs.
But Shannon didn't and had trouble even getting in the training for another job.
Is the story here not about Trump, or jobs going to Mexico, or rust belts, but the difficulties women still have in getting equal work for equal pay? Maybe feminists should focus on these kinds of stories rather than dissolving into obscure identity politics and picking up discredited avatars for their marches like Angela Davis. Wouldn't hurt for the left to focus on worker's rights as they used to as well, instead of identity politics. I hope the Times follows up on Shannon and her struggles and lets us know how she fares.
14
It is Shannon's age, not her gender, that is the biggest problem with the.second problem being financially responsible for a disabled child. Often the training you are offered in situations like this is to be a home health care worker, which pays $8-9/ hr in our neck of the woods. There are a few other options but here too, the pay is still near minimum wage.
In civilized countries, they train and pay parents/grand parents to care for their disabled children. Maybe some day the US will be promoted from 3rd World to 2nd World status.
6
This is maddening. All profits to the wealthy is an awful, and awfully unstable, way to run a country. If we cannot muster the collective will to plan for and work toward a society that provides meaningful lives for all, there is no chance of being "great" again. The invisible hand seems to be robbing average people of a sense of stability in their lives, unable to contemplate a secure future if corporations can send thousands of jobs away based on an accountant's advice. Everything seems untenable. This is no way for people, or a country, to thrive.
I hope we can overcome this. But it will take a massive, collective pulling away of the wool from our eyes and realizing we are all in it together. Education is the key. Right now it seems like the majority have been bamboozled and don't understand the larger forces around them. But a middle class lifestyle that should be available to the citizens of a first world country is not an automatic right. It needs to be planned for and tended to by government policy. We seem to have forsaken that in this country.
Sad.
19
This is an admirable woman. She worked hard, she pulled herself up, she has empathy for others, she takes pride in her work, she cares for her family. It puts a real human face on how messed up this country has become--I can't believe she put herself out there and got completely used by her employer, how can anyone feel good about our future when that's what you get when you give your best? I hope she feels proud of herself, she should.
38
And which party you suppose $40 million CEO Mr. Adams votes for when he enters the polling booth. So why do blue collar workers bote with CEOs who send jobs overseas. Republicans have mastered the art of distracting low information workers with social hot button issues and stoking resentment of all things different.
51
I'm a Purdue grad, and I could not be more proud of my alma mater for giving this young woman a shot. Wishing her all the best; we are lucky to have her. Boiler Up!
29
A sad read, as are all such stories. But I couldn't help but wonder: why not curb your spending in such a position? How much time was actually spent on retraining? Even searching for a new job? The company seemed to be offering two years of retraining, a generous offer, and one that should have been pursued aggressively. It's unfortunate, but too many people fail to take a proactive role in their lives. Job loss seems to bring an inertia, as if some magical solution awaits that will produce an income. Not an easy issue to resolve.
14
I'd like to see a GoFundMe set up for Ms. Mulcahy to make up for that $5,000 bonus she was owed. She swallowed her pride and worked hard for months to train her replacement and then this despicable company stiffs her. But it can pay its CEO $40 million for "cutting costs". It makes you sick to your stomach.
45
I'd like to see the CEO pony up the $5,000.00. He'd never miss it. He probably spends more than that on dog food.
71
Absolutely he should, and for every other worker he stiffed as well. There were only 300 workers let go, of which not all stayed on for that bonus. Chump change to him. But how would he be shamed into doing the right thing? He clearly is a man without a conscience. A GoFundMe for one woman is a small measure of help, unevenly applied, but Ms. Mulcahy has a disabled child relying on her. If anyone deserves help from the collective NYTimes readership, it's her.
3
Add to that a personal expose on the CEO and other board members...yes, expose and spread, what should be their shame, far and wide!
2
What jobs are going to 100% be around in 20 years time, even 10 years time, for people with no degree to retrain for after being fired?
I work in education and I don’t even know that my job will exist in another five years. Online education has pulled out more than a thousand kids from my district. They’re closing a high school because of it. That’s three hundred some odd jobs gone. More cuts are coming. We all know it.
This isn’t just about factory workers. There’s a whole host of people right in that same ~50,000$ a year income bracket who are just waiting for the technology/outsourcing axe to come for them next.
30
From a United Steelworker:
Sensitive, well written story about an Indiana woman fighting for her family and livelihood as her union job is packed off to Mexico. The writer allows us to figure what's fair and what's not
in 2017 America...showing how workers are viewed and treated as disposable, troublesome impediments to corporate and national economic success.
38
The problem is not what is best, but what is good enough, and who defines it.
I was a concert piano tuner for 30 years, and one day, a piano teacher with a Steinway model B asked me to tuner her piano to her synthesizer so she could play with it. I told her it would not work- the Synth was tuned differently than her piano. She 'convinced me', I tuned the piano to her Synth, and the piano sounded horrible, as I predicted. After her inevitable nervous breakdown, I retuned the piano so it sounded good with itself.
Who defines performance?
When everything and everybody is considered fungible, talent above the line of, for example, ISO 2000, is suspect, and possibly dangerous.
You know this, or are about to know this as a writer. I knew it when my clients started telling me that 'I heard better' than they could. Including the piano teacher above. Until she experienced the reality directly between human art, and machine precision. When art becomes suspect, sometime soon, automation will win. Art is not always reproducible, and fewer will care about the subtleties. LoFi is the measuring stick of musical recording these days, HiFi is the province of the elite. Being too good at your trade is worse than knowing nothing. Humans are making humans obsolete through automation. Education, and expectations will not be far behind.
14
What a touching story, one that brought sadness to me and made me realize that in the end, we are now in the decline of manufacturing and of the american worker. There may be some redemption if someone would recognize that the quality of the bearings produced by american workers with pride is superior to that of other countries. I for one, will only purchase american made vehicles (although one can not be sure any more), and american made products. This is, however, difficult to do if we continue shopping at our favorite store, Walmart.
11
Trump claimed to have "saved" 3,000 jobs at Carrier, the factory that the workers in this article looked to, which later turned out to actually be only 300 jobs, at a cost of about $3 millions dollars to taxpayers over 3 years. In other words, Trump-Pence are basically using our money to pay the salary of these employees over the period of their show-boat deal. Yet people in this article, continue to think he's working for them while he guts health care, minimum wage, and the rest.... He's not just another politician, as the people interviewed here think. He's a con artist, transferring what little wealth they have to millionaires like himself.
50
This is the same brand of capitalism that our President practices. At the last minute, Shannon's bonus is yanked away, and our President refuses to pay a supplier or contractor unless they renegotiate the contract after the work is done. As the President said in the debate with Clinton, behavior like this, cheating a worker or company, makes him a smart business man. The average trump voter has no idea the kind of man they put into the White House.
This is not only about losing your job, it is a form of slow and protracted torture that our economy specializes in nowadays. The job of the CEO is to maximize shareholder value. Shareholders, more than likely, are faceless funds, and these impersonal entities don't care about Sharron, her son or granddaughter. I hope Shannon finds something that lets her keep her house but I am not reticent about her chances.
24
Excellent piece of journalism. Would love to see a yearly follow-up.
12
A fascinating and heart-wrenching story from many angles: the plight of an American worker who overcame many obstacles to gain the respect of her co-workers, become a skilled iron worker, supported her children and grandchild, and endured the impending loss of her job with dignity and bravery. I care about this person and her future. I hope the reporter follows up with Shannon and her family.
A parent wants her child to be better off than herself, to have opportunities she never had. Shannon's daughter, Nicole, is already on her way. I hope she succeeds.
Some will use thus story to point out the evils of globalization, and, yes, it's easy and tempting to look at it this way, but there's more to it than that. It's an unfortunate yet inevitable fact that the combination of consumers wanting goods at lower prices and companies wanting to maximize their bottom line will continue to shift jobs to people and places that cost less.
It's telling that the company at one time had a large number of employee stakeholders. Apoarently, that situation changed, and now the stakeholders are outsiders, investors who are naturally looking for a payoff, long-term if possible, but short-term if necessary.
Unlike employees who hope their hard work and company loyalty will result in both prosperity for the company and ensuing job security for themselves, investors aren't dependent on that. When the CEO and other execs essentially become those investors, the result seems inevitable.
12
Women like Shannon, well, I think women in general, are more than capable of adapting to newer jobs. Shannon struck me as being very intelligent. I wish she had had the opportunity to train people in Mexico. They would have appreciated her abilities!
7
Wow the NYT does one story on the plight of all those 250 million people in flyover country. Glad to see a token article describing the pain a huge majority of Americans are in!
I bet its back to explaining how globalization is great for GDP growth tomorrow.
13
You do realize that the New York Times is in New York right? Regardless, it writes articles about Americans across the country as well as people across the world. Maybe it's you who needs to open your eyes.
24
http://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/27/opinion/l-the-us-funded-foreign-assaul...
My Dad lost his job in the copper mines in our area in the mid '80's. He also lost half of his retirement. No one cared. Especially the mining company. Life moved on. So did my Dad who trained and got another job. The American will to survive and adapt? I never see it anymore. What I do see is all the blaming everyone does. Businesses are out to make money, anyway and anyhow. Face it, prepare for it and realize no one is guaranteed anything from corporations or businesses.
22
That’s why we need unions to make sure we are paid what we are worth, and a strong government that protects our rights. We should be guaranteed what we are worth. No matter if we’re Americans or Mexicans...
18
Incredibly well written. Rarely does such a lengthy piece about a subject (the ball bearings, not the employment situation) that I normally wouldn't bother with, hold my interest like this one. I could just picture these machines. Anyone can learn something from this, including how good writing can make anything fascinating.
22
The bourgeoisie wear a flag pin in their lapels but prefer higher returns on investments to keeping jobs in America. And, when Mexico is tapped out and labor costs rise, the bourgeoisie will seek lower labor costs somewhere else. No one is owed a living.
5
Everyone is owed a dignified life, and those who can, should pay the taxes to make that happen.
18
I read an interesting statistic in a continuing ed class I took today for my job. If you were to take the entire demographics of the world and break it down to 100 people only, guess how many would have a college education? If you chose 1% you would be correct. One percent of the entire world's population has a college degree. I find it interesting to read these comments, particularly the ones trying to make it Trump's fault she is losing her job. Also, the grotesque elitism of some of the commentators. This woman grew up in a completely dysfunctional household and has tried to work and not turn into her mother, an alcoholic food stamp recipient. It seems to me that so many commentators on this site are out of the loop on how most of the world lives. Of course, being a progressive and willing to dole out other people's money makes you righteous but not empathetic.
15
It is gross that Mr. Adams earns so much for cutting labor costs and cheating workers.
This is why taxes should be a lot high on the wealthy and those that earn capital gains,carried interest and dividends....its blood money.
37
For those who yell "fake news" and "liars" at journalists at Trump rallies, stop and know that tens of thousands of reporters, editors and pressmen have lost their jobs in your communities due to faceless bean counters cutting jobs to satisfy shareholders.
32
As a Hooisier union sympathizer all I can say is "We have been had." Pence as govenor did everything he could to destroy unions "Under Right to Work" laws. Then Trump, a multi billionaire hoodwinked everyone to believe he would stop the movement of jobs to Mexico and China (despite the fact that almost all Trump label products are made overseas.)
53
Business is business, not a charity.
3
No, we are not talking about charity; we are talking about a business which can be sustained in the long run.
Do American CEOs want their children live in a country filled with slums? Do they want to do their business only outside the U.S.?
The problem is that in such a case their own business will fail in one way or another. It was their American brand name that helped their products sold globally.
At the same time, do not blame the trade deal or other underdeveloped countries. Underdeveloped countries need global economy as the U.S. once needed it. The U.S. enjoyed the full benefits of global economy, and why not other countries? Who is to say that only U.S. workers are important?
On the other hand, American CEOs should help their own workers. American CEOs should do their social duties to the people of the U.S. Businessmen should be different from gamblers or lenders.
13
Business should not be exploitation either.
17
But business should not be given every unfair advantage against labor, with government backing.
17
And where is a Donald Trump who promised to save these jobs?
12
Aaaand....
That's how you got Trump.
18
A sad state of affairs with a resultant less qualified and capable workforce. I have seen this situation for many years. As a manufacturing engr, 25 years ago, we were far more capable in manufacturing than we are today. Our ability to make bearings back in the 70's was exceptional, tolerances to +/- 5u", roundness to 6u". Today, nationally, we do not have the capabilities we had years ago.
I do blame congress for allowing big business to buy little companies and big companies, than immediately shrink the work force. The deceit of the CEO and chairs remains to the stockbroker, as written so well in the article. Very accurate article, and many of the comments are well written and accurate.
I wrote to my senators when our business was sold to the present United _ company. "Don't let it happen, disapprove of it. this is not good for the state, not good for the nation, and not good for the customer". Product reliability is not as good. We see critical technical operators and engineers let go. We are told this is part of "right sizing", and the new company's business financial solution.
Manufacturing in America has atropied. And, I was a customer, a member of the military. What we sell, gyroscopes, the customer, the military needs.
Congress; Dept of State and Commerce should disapprove businesses from buying out their competition.
11
You’ve been replaced by robots.
1
We will not prosper as a nation until we put our people first. Only when companies like Rexnord start investing in research, development and training will the US economy recover and full employment be reached. Until then, the divisions between the privileged and the struggling will widen. Our health, our children's education and the environment will continue to deteriorate unless we invest in people rather than putting price per share first.
11
Programs like Obamacare raise taxes and increase the cost of American made goods. American made products are no longer price competitive so there is no demand by consumers in other countries.
The result is that manufacturers make choices like moving their production to places like Mexico and China.
2
But you do realize her seriously ill and disabled granddaughter most likely relies on Obamacare, don't you?
19
Nice try but American factories have been shedding jobs since the 1970s it has zero to do with Obamacare. It's called business in the name of capitalism.
26
As part of a GM team from Mexico city estationed in Indianapolis back in 1991, I recall thinking when this was going to happen. Compared to global standards, quality from Kokomo's sister plant in Toluca, Mexico was thru the roof and people there in Indiana had this air of supremacy as if they were never going to lose their jobs. It hasn't been only about prices, it's the underdog feeling that motivates people from Shenzen and Monterrey and so many other cities to outperform those from the legacy factories. And yet I still have great memories from my 5 month experience in the EDS office just off I-64 and the wonderful people I met. They missed their chance to get a better education, and now life is turning out to be so difficult. But Nicole is on the right track. There's hope.
8
We are the third most populous nation in the world. We are, perforce, a large economy. We could make it the law that companies cannot sell here unless their workers are paid our minimum wage. But we don't do that. Why not?
15
Because most of us wouldn't be able to afford the stuff sold. Companies are not going to willingly take less money, so prices will go up. A lot. That's why manufacturing isn't coming back here. Of course something like iPhones could be made in the USA, but the cheapest of them would probably be three, four times the current price, if not more. And the workers would still be paid near minimum wage with no benefits. Almost like Walmart in a factory. That's not going to help anyone.
A well written,absorbing story...Please,a follow-up
2
Trump was the first major party candidate to speak out against neoliberalism. The fact that no one in their right minds believed him speaks to the level of desperation among our working class.
Trump's adversary campaigned on, "we're all in this together" and that message really resonated - against her.
4
Trump campaigned on blame the other guy and lies and more lies. Just look how ahead that got this country. Epic fail.
12
Yes, it is sad such changes have to happen and few of us are prepared to make them. On the other hand, as with the industrial revolution, computer infestation, etc. change will happen. The key, of course, is embracing and planning for the transition. Out of all these changes has come more opportunities. How we embrace the opportunities is up to us. I was impressed at this woman's ability to accept the change and look to help others ... is this not what our American culture and "family" is all about? Unfortunately, there are those who look to take advantage of such changes at the expense of many. In the long run they only hurt themselves ... does anyone need more than a few $million$ to live well on? Do investors really understand their potential return by facilitating a good transition for change? too often the response is no, unfortunate for them. DJM
3
“Rexnord of Indianapolis is moving to Mexico and rather viciously firing all of its 300 workers...”
What would one say, if the words "moving to Mexico" are now "moving to automation"? This is no sci-fi because it's happening already, even in the big-bad of China and its manufacturing sector that has supposedly stolen so many manufacturing jobs (well, in fact, the whole sector) from America.
It's easy (and certainly feels good) to blame one's own misfortune on someone else, because then, there would be an easy solution of getting rid of that "someone else." But when what replaces you turns out to be a machine, what is one to do?
And this Terminator-like future is more imminent for manufacturing, it's by no means unique. In fact, big data, AI and robotics are going to render a lot of high-end jobs as well, including stock analysis. Just look at how high-frequency algo trading has replaced so many erstwhile highly paid traders these days.
I find myself so truly want to say that, machines can't replace humans, but a large majority of jobs will be put at risk. Next up? The 1M+ long-haul truck drivers, in the face of advancement of driverless technology.
Naturally, talks of all these are cold comfort for the likes Shannon, her family, and coworkers. It is at this finest hour that government can step up to redefine a future that has yet to take hold. GOP and Dems, for the longest time, have ignored their plight. For them, even lipservice from Trump is music to their ears.
5
Great story and perspective. The cautionary tale from this story is that this type of disruption will not end at just the low skilled workers. Higher educated workers, like engineers, are losing jobs to Asia and India. It costs approximately 1/3 in salaries to employ engineers in China. Legal and medical jobs, which require advanced college degrees are being outsourced or automated.
This story is not about Mexico stealing US jobs. It is about global corporations who have no loyalty to anything other than shareholders.
20
True, but a lot of us are also shareholders now too. If you have a 401k or similar account some of it is probably invested in stocks. There are no simple answers to this.
1
I did not want to comment on this story and I do not like American jobs leaving for Mexico or China, but after reading these sappy comments I felt compelled to respond. This is America you succeed with education and hard work not by complaining. Most of these workers in this story barely or did not even finish high school, they have done absolutely nothing to better themselves, and now they are shocked to be losing their jobs. Jobs come and go and people need to be prepared for that! I work in manufacturing, I have lost a job to a plant closing at Chrysler that moved the plant to mexico. But I was prepared for that possibility, I took advantage of Chrysler tuition reimbursement and graduated college at 40, even though I worked 7 days a week. Then when the plant closed I had to move two states to get another job that was comparable. No fun, but that what you have to do. These workers will collect extended unemployment, they will qualify for TRA (Trade Readjustment Act) funds to get retrained. They are lucky they will have a lot of opportunities to get new job skills paid for with tax dollar. Let see what they do with their new opportunities. And one last thing Rexnord owes Shannon $5000!
39
Good for you. I also went back to college, got a degree in forensic science and crime analysis.
And to get experience, because of a hiring freeze, I worked interning for way to long for a major police agency in one of the Science Investigative Division labs.Several years later, when the freeze was up, I wasn't hired after all.
I'm still struggling to pay for my college education. And still not working at the job I spent so long training for.
Sometimes, my gender and ethnicity DOES play into not getting hired.
I'm willing to move, but no one is hiring in my specialization.
I tried. I really did.
16
I am truly sorry you are struggling to find an opportunity to use the skills you have been educated and trained to do. My commentary was not meant to address every American that is struggling to find a good paying job and I am certainly sympathetic to people that played by the rules. did what society asked them to do, and now can not find a job in their career field that pays enough to survive and also pay back the debt they had to take on to graduate. But as I pointed out many of the people in this story should receive tax payer funded support through the TRA program and my guess is you would be grateful for that kind of support.
2
I think this society, including this paper, need to stop perpetuating the myth that getting a college degree is the answer for all these problems. Because a degree, while it generally makes you relatively more employable, does not guarantee you will make a decent living. Or that you will even get a job that requires a degree. You really have to consider the costs versus benefits of getting a degree. But the higher education juggernaut NEVER tells you that. And everyone reaches for that as an easy answer. So now we have a student debt problem!
2
Superb article! What a surprise. Then you follow it up with a request for comments from Mexicans, to whom our jobs were transferred.
Why? What is your infatuation with people who are not American citizens? Is it that the Americans who lost their jobs were white or black, and you have some kind of infatuation with brown people? Perhaps this sounds racist, but you're the ones guilty of racism. You report about citizens of our country who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, then you seek to even things out by asking Mexicans (not Americans) how they like their new job?
I am a strong supporter of Black LIves Matter. As such, I ask you, why do you so hate white (deplorable) people? You're truly weird, if not criminal.
Does Carlos Silva (whose wealth comes from the theft of Mexican public property... look it up in the NYT) secretly own the NYT?
By the way, the language we speak in this country is English, not Mexican.
12
Kudos to Farah Stockman and Alyssa Schukar, for this excellent story. I hope that its appearance in the New York Times represents a U-turn by the editors - away from supporting the so-called " free " trade and globalization that has served to hollow out the working and, to some extent, middle classes of this country. We need creative solutions, such as Germany's support for its workers, if we are reduce our slide into a third world nation of rich and poor.
13
Germany decided to protect their industrial base; we decided that everybody should go to college.
4
I wonder if the CEO will trust that his own grandchild will be safe on a carnival ride or some other contraption built with substandard bearings.
15
I doubt he will make the connection.
10
The two who let her down: Former Indiana Governor, Mike Pence, and Donald Trump.
Enough with the lip service. Where are the results?
25
What will happen with Shannon's health insurance now?
15
A very insightful piece of journalism. Now why don't you do a story
on Mr. Todd Adams and his current lifestyle?
19
I am an outsider and will not go to the technicalities of the subject. But whenever I read articles like this, I feel proud to be a NYT subscriber. I am amazed over the years , how NYT team goes deep into the subject without just scrapping at the surface.
17
this is a wonderful article. I wish there had been more of them before the election, but it's never too late. These are the people who turned to Trump, and they have inspiring stories that should be heard. What can the Democrats do to address these situations?
9
What do you find inspiring about stories about people who failed to get an education, had children before their early 20s, raise them in broken homes, don't bother to vote, shop at big box stores, and have almost no self identify other than as a particular cog in some widget-making system? No offense to Shannon or others in the working class - but I don't think her story is "inspiring." Absolutely no one is going to read this article and want to BE the next Shannon, after all.
6
This article succeeded in providing a complex portrait of someone who has lived a rough but honorable life. Shannon apparently doesn't meet your own rigid standards. Your loss.
1
This is a very well-written article and explains a lot about support for Trump. But when I was growing up, everyone knew the slogan "If you want a good job, get a good education". That was some years ago, but not everyone got the message. The results can be sad, but Nicole is getting the benefit of the system, which should not be overlooked either.
9
Money talks and money walks. What else is there to say? Not even Trump can do much about it, he is smart and successful but has never been involved with these heavy industries. They they alone are the masters of their own fate and future. All we can do is to, yes, retrain and regroup. There is no simple answer or remedy, certainly not socialism which has proven to be a dismal failure. Skilled artisans still have an assured future, so go trade school my boy and learn one. There is something about being a tinker, tailor or candlestick maker. A trade is mobile and its practitioner should be too. Work at what is needed and go where it is to be found. Do everything possible to be independent and never dependent.
1
How has socialism proven to be a dismal failure? I am truly curious what facts you have to back up your assertion.And are you conflating socialism with communism? They are not the same economic system at all.
9
It's mostly about money, profit and American's desire for cheap goods.
Short of banning trade with and manufacturing in other countries that have lower labor costs and taxes the only solution is for American workers to obtain more education and training to qualify for new jobs. Tariffs just result in other countries retaliating.
4
It is simply wrong for Trump or anybody just to blame international trade; Trump's shortsighted protectionism is theoretically incorrect and morally wrong. As long as Americans are as shortsighted as Trump, US economy is doomed.
Just think about this: How could the US economy progress in the 20th century? How could the U.S. have so many factories and manufacturing jobs in the 20th century?
Answer: The U.S. could sell their products to all the countries in the world. In other words, global international trade provided the kind of jobs Shannon used to have in the U.S.
So, does it make sense to blame international trade just because the same system is working against the U.S. now? It was once the U.S.'s greatest weapon, wasn't it?
So, instead of just blaming international trade as Trump does, Americans should solve the problem within the U.S., i.e., by themselves without blaming other countries. Other countries have been buying all the products made in the U.S.
What is needed is the structural, moral, attitudinal changes within the U.S. American CEOs should think about the future of the U.S., which is in the long-run the most important market to their business. By outsourcing their factories as they do now, they are impoverishing their American market.
Besides, American CEO should have a different goal--instead of aiming to make billions of dollars internationally, they should think about how to provide jobs within the U.S.
It is time for Americans change.
4
Fantastic story. Thank you Farrah Stockman. What a great American Shannon is. No matter who you vote or don't vote for, her compassion and grit and general humanity are what we could use more of in this country.
What an indictment of broken capitalism. I want to start a shareholder revolt...unless there is one I can join? ...what honest citizens citizens think companies or executives should operate this way or be paid like this?? I don't hate Mexicans or want to deny them jobs, but is the real answer that all but human service work will go to the global lowest labor cost market?? And in a globalized world, how can our leaders NOT understand the importance of higher taxes on great wealth, to pay not for arms but for education, training, and health care support for all our workers, for infrastructure and etc.
America could have a more modest but FAIR economy, if folks at the higher end would stand up and say, yes we'll sacrifice, yes we want to invest in people, take care of our neighbors, train people, build and upgrade the systems we live on. Not to take care of everyone with giveaways, just a higher basic floor. But just upping the minimum wage won't do it. And running our companies as multinational vultures to benefit the rich won't either. Pray for some leadership of decency and good sense.
12
Economists will say that free trade means that this benefits everybody, but they miss out on a key feature here. Free trade with Mexico (or China, or wherever) only works if those other places sell us things that we as Americans can't produce as efficiently. But that equation does not include Americans training those in other countries with all of the technical skill and capital so that they can simply do anything Americans can do for less money. This is where all the free trade supporters are getting it wrong. If we give away everything we have, of course we are going to be at a disadvantage-- human beings are the same everywhere, competitive advantage comes from the generations of investment that have been made up to today. If Swiss watch manufacturers completely train Chinese workers to do everything they've trained to do for centuries, within a couple of years nobody would be buying a Swiss watch anymore!
9
You point out the value of the intellectual property that the company has developed, often located in the workers' heads. Yes, that is very valuable. But it is owned by the company, not the workers.
The only way to increase prosperity is not to prevent the company from lowering its costs, but by developing new technology in this country. That is what education and investment is all about. Donald has pinpointed a problem, but not the solution.
2
Back in the early 1990s I wrote, "NAFTA - Not a Favor to Americans." At that time very few people seemed to agree. I would love to have been wrong.
10
This article is admittedly, "a woman's story" about a woman who fought the odds and made it. Written by a woman in a sympathetic tone, I applaud it.
But if she does not vote, supports Trump, the whole deal is canceled. Raise yourself up all you want, but if once you get there you take a cynical approach like she did, it's pointless. She obviously internalized some self defeating attitudes along the way, and those are her own problems, not ours. When does this type of American story end? Never, I would suppose.
11
Did Rexnord sell faulty ball bearings during and after manufacturing was moved South? I think this should be investigated as injury and death can occur when ball bearings disintegrate.
It should concern all of us that Rexnord is getting rid of unionized-labor workers. Those highly-skilled craft workers, with the union behind them, could speak up when they saw safety or product quality problems.
Low pay factory workers in "Right-to-work" ( in reality: Right to be Fired without Cause) states often feel---rightly so--- that they will be fired for speaking up about product safety problems. It is interesting that Rexnord moved some manufacturing to Texas, one such state.
This article is a good reminder that to the 40 millionaire CEO of Rexnord we, the everyday people, are just ants. When he and his fellow executives get tired of us they can just kick our anthills down and walk away while we scramble to pick up our damaged communities and lives.
22
I used to work on a military contract in Florida, reconditioning Intermodal shipping containers and packing them with military supplies. One day our bosses decided they could save a ton of money by buying new containers from Mexico. They bought 400 of them.
Not a single one passed the most basic inspections– doors hung crooked so the gaskets didn’t mate, actual holes in the sides, cracked beams on the undercarriages, etc.
Our company sent them all back and swore they’d never try it again. As far as I know, they never did.
6
If your community is that damaged, then why don't you fix it on your own? Communities like this one have a long history of voting Republican. The woes they are experiencing now are the direct result of their own historical voting behavior. These people asked to be treated like ants, each time they voted, and now they are getting what they asked for. Since they're getting what they always asked for, you'd think they'd finally be happy - but no, now they want someone else to come in and fix it. Sorry, it isn't going to happen. And why would the CEO of Rexnord et al do anything other than seek to maximize profits? Anyone in the working class who ever puts their faith in a CEO of some company is delusional, at best.
1
My job went to India many times. The other times it went to Indian visa holders brought here for us to train. Blame corporations, they aren't US companies, they are global. They are just maximizing profit. Oh and on one occasion my corporation got paid by Texas to move my job there and not pay taxes. Welcome to corporate greed with little or no regulations. I have not once lost a job to Mexico.
17
How can people pull themselves up by their own bootstraps when the bootstraps are now made in China?
14
And someone keeps razoring them?
8
If Pres. Obama was still in office, he would have at least tried to do something. Even if he could not do anything, he'd at least address the problem and make people aware. This Trump fella, on the other hand, couldn't care less.
It's ironic. One of the ludicrous reasons Trump gives for building the Trump® Wall is to keep Mexicans from coming into the country and taking jobs away from Americans. As this article points out, Mexicans are getting those jobs anyway, without having to leave Mexico.
32
A very moving piece documented the human effect of globalization. It happens in all industry, steel, car, furniture, to IT. Combined the fierce force of automation, it makes me wonder the future employment in this country. Compared to the past years from after WWII, the employment will be in vastly different landscape. Lower skilled and aged workers will brunt the hurt, and they usually have higher "liabilities", from raising children, providing health insurance, to facing retirement.
No tax "reform" will make up for the loss and reduced wages for working class. However, a possible approach is to tie the public companies tax rate to local hires. Reduce the tax when they retain and grow the local labor force, and increase the corporate the tax when reducing the labor to help damped the loss to the communities. Yes, the business is free to outsource, but they should help the locals who brought them to the point of outscouring at first place.
9
Years ago, ca.1950, I read a science-fiction story in which the author imagined a future economy in which workers would be remunerated in reverse proportion to how intrinsically interesting their jobs were. That is, a street-sweeper would be paid more than an, e.g. ophthalmological neurosurgeon. The idea was that, as a consequence, everyone would have a certain job for the truly altruistic reason that he cared and not because it was a way to make a pretty good buck by ripping off the federal government through Medicare. (See the relevant episode of "American Greed.") No one with the ability to become a neurosurgeon would ever be satisfied with sweeping streets, regardless of the salary. Naturally, the cost of educating and training neurosurgeons and building and equipping the hospitals where they would work would be borne by the wealthy unskilled through the taxation of their salaries.
Everyone's a winner!
5
I was moved reading this article -- very well done. However, I think it has an unstated, but nonetheless flawed premise: if the jobs were not moved to Mexico and Texas, the jobs would have remained in Indiana. The company competes in the global economy; its competitors in Asia, Europe, and Latin America can and may manufacture the same or similar products in low wage locations and, as a result, be able to out-compete Rexnord. That may not happen immediately, but certainly would over time. Were Rexnord to do nothing, it may eventually have to close the plant and exit that business -- the jobs go away due to global competition, rather than move to allow Rexnord to remain competitive. Another flawed premise is that all of the labor savings accrue to the shareholders (and the CEO). It is certainly possible that Rexnord must reduce prices to remain competitive and can only do so with lower labor costs. Lower prices would offset some of the labor savings, but allow the company to remain competitive. The third issue which is not addressed is that the interests of manufacturing employees are not wholly independent from those of shareholders. Union pension plans and 401k equity investments depend on the success of stock investments in order to provide future retirement payments. In the aggregate, union pension plans and 401k plans won't work as promised if shareholder interests are overlooked. Nonetheless, the impact on Shannon and her co-workers is real and painful.
8
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ms. Stockman and the NYT, for this illuminating, sad, infuriating, and even uplifting article. You have encapsulated the REAL story of Americans left behind due to the Tech Boom and globalism. Now, if only our politicians and Trump would read and discuss it.
8
While a horrifying story, the next chapter is even more grim: the jobs stop being exported to Mexico and other lower-income nations, and instead they go to robots who are even cheaper.
Those with education won't immune from this shift as they are today with outsourcing. Their jobs will be replaced by machines whose analytic skills can be done faster and cheaper by the computers of tomorrow.
Who will be left to purchase the products in that dystopic world? Ultimately we will need to come up with an alternative to the capitalist system which is driving this transformation.
9
The wage for the laborers in Monterrey is $6USD a day, not $6USD an hour.
The mean wage for Mexican workers, as for American, has nothing but effectively decreased overt the last decades. NAFTA may have benefitted transnationals, but workers not.
11
I know this story is meant to wring buckets of tears from the reader, but I myself came away unmoved. I don't see that this woman is deserving of any special admiration or sympathy. In fact, she's gotten breaks in her life; a well paying job that lasted many years, a free college education for her daughter. But her life has always been a dysfunctional mess, due to her poor choices. And she thought a man would be her "savior?" It's not easy to like someone like that. And despite her precarious financial situation she trots out to Walmart and fills her cart with trifles like toys. As for as her job being outsourced...well, she should have been preparing for such an eventuality long before this. And what's with her son? He does absolutely nothing except "watch" his disabled daughter. The article implies that for him, work is out of the question. Does he expect his mother to provide for him and his daughter forever? I don't think this family is any different from thousands of others that have financial problems and mental and physical health issues. I have no idea why they're being singled out, except to make a political statement about the horrors of job outsourcing. And to portray Shannon Mulcahy as some kind of working class heroine is disturbing. To "define" yourself by a job is not healthy. I came away from this article with no love for these people. I think they're very ordinary and not worth writing about.
10
Breaks in her life? GimME a break! Growing up in a disfunctional environment, sexually assaulted by her stepfather... She should have been on drugs and a wretch - instead, she succeeded as a woman in a man’s world, is generous to those in need, and raised two admirable kids: a daughter who goes to college and a son who cares deeply for his disabled daughter. Who are YOU to judge?
26
Shouldn't the local school system should be providing early intervention and special services for her grand daughter? There's no mention of early intervention. It could make a world of difference not only for the child but her father to train for employment.
I have nothing but respect for Shannon, a hard worker and compassionate human being. Rexnord CEO, board and shareholders should be ashamed?! How many millions does a person need?
9
Cynthia, I appreciate your opinion. But just wanted to let you know that my college was not “free”. I worked hard to earn scholarships, and was in the top of my class with a 4.4 GPA, Class President, NHS President and volunteered with AmeriCorps 1575 hours. I EARNED those scholarships, which came at a price of time and prioritizing my life. My dad passed away at 12 years old and I could’ve gone on a totally different path. Nothing in this world is free, and I can tell you that the aid I got from the state was only $5000, which is only 1/8 of what I needed for tuition alone. I just wanted to clear that up. Have a good night and may God bless your life.
31
I'm an USA consumer, my government (what remains of the government that I pay for through my tax dollars and not lost to rent seeking corporate interests) tells me that all I need to focus on is price and quantity. Every decision I make, whether it is food, clothing, cars, fuel, housing (except for health care and education) all that mattes is price and quantity. So I look for more that costs less. Steel? Well steel is probably part of my car, my office building and perhaps my home! But to make or build all these things the labor and raw materials impact the price I pay for the quantity of what I receive. I'm shielded from the externalities of my consumption decisions like in this article here, like only a fraction of my fellow consumers read the NYTs and so who cares! I don't....I'm a call center rep and I want a cheap car, house and office building... But than you for this article it was very informative...
2
While I feel bad for Shannon and her family, none of us are immune to change. I work in a white collar profession that is nothing like it was 20 or 50 years ago. My colleagues who refuse to change are being left behind, too. Even if Rexnord and other companies found a way to keep their jobs in the US, the world's population is younger and growing faster in other countries, and our natural resources are dwindling as our climate changes.
I understand some say unions are the answer, but I'm skeptical. I've worked in union and non-union shops and I belong to a union myself. The union is not about change; the union is about maximizing the benefits for workers who benefit from the current system. That's honorable, but when the union resists change, particularly when they represent workers who won't change, everyone loses anyway.
We're really failing to do two things: (1) ensure that every kid gets adequate nutrition, homes, and education skills that allow them to learn, understand, and change; and (2) provide enough of a safety net for folks to land while they change. We don't invest in our ability to change. What's particularly criminal is that two-fifths of our kids live in poverty at some point, which essentially condemns a large portion of our present and future population to jobs and living conditions that they cannot escape from.
44
50% of children in America have received food stamps sometime during their lives. Yes, 50%.
10
Okay. So you are saying that you think your children and my children could compete with SLAVE labor in China and Mexico only if our kids had MORE education and better food? Good idea...wait a second don't food and education cost money? And to afford our food and education do we not need better jobs? Perhaps if we got used to the novel idea of paying for labor and products made by folks in our own country and consuming aware of the "externalities" (that would be the hidden costs to the environment, our society and global human dignity) perhaps that would be better. As Louis CK has pointed out "I don't care if my next door neighbor loses his job I want a dustpan that is .39 cents cheaper at Walmart." Educate and feed our children out of that problem.
4
And make birth control and abortion free and readily available.
Why people who can't even support themselves continue to breed is beyond me.
Living in midwest this story is not new to me and some of my friends are in the same boat. Our society is failing as we do not have social contracts, we only have economic contracts. So capitalism is at work and as long as we stay on this path we will suffer. The better way moving forward is to have a social contracts:
a) Rich folks pay more in taxes - it is time to be patriotic
b) Universal college education
c) Universal healthcare
d) Increase minimum wages - cost of doing business in America
We can still let capitalism do its job.
Finally, as long as we despise each other we will fail. So it is time to explore the compassionate side of our soul.
22
We've lost the majority of factory jobs to China than Mexico.
5
I don't see any way out of this world wide except employee ownership.
It is super difficult to see how to resolve the conflict of the need for pressure for change with a sense of humanity.
8
Anyone who voted for Trump probably belongs to the group that doesn't even have a HS degree or GED and bought into Trumps lies about saving jobs.
Obama brought the longest month to month job growth (72 months) in the history of the country. And most of the job growth this year is because of Obama economic policies (Trump has none) and Janet Yellen (an Obama holdover) leading the Fed.
Those jobs Trump saved at Carrier ended up going to Mexico with some engineering and other professionals staying in IN. Another Trump lie.
10 of the 12 states to be hurt by Trumps decision to end subsides for Obamacare are Republican states, the least educated and the ones that get the most handouts from the Government. Mostly southern states.
Good luck....
18
Right if only, only the folks in the South who voted for Trump all had Ph.Ds! They would all still be unemployed, without healthcare BUT they would also have student loan debt but they would have voted for Hillary!
2
This is the downside of international trade agreements that were such an important part of Obama's and Hillary's economic master plan. It's the Republicans who killed the Pacific Trade deal. When they did so this paper cried protectionism! And yet when an article like this appears readers seem shocked. We have to make up our minds as a nation. Do we want to impose trade barriers to protect American industrial workers or do we want to be part of the global economy and allow American companies to pick the low wage country of their choice? Americans seem all confused and mixed up about this, particularly progressives who seem to be surprised when they read stories like this and forget this is part of the Democratic party's platform.
7
This is a complex question, one that the author alludes to: Shannon (and the rest of us) love buying cheap imported goods. Many of us are unwilling to pay more for the domestically manufactured item. That’s the deal our leaders have made - cheap imports in exchange for offshore labor.
I think it’s a bad deal, but to blame progressives is disingenuous or uninformed. Prior to Trump, free trade was a core Republican / conservative value. It still is for most Rs. Since the 90s, dem leadership has moved to the right on trade and now there’s little daylight between the two parties on this issue. I’m not convinced that protectionism is going to save us when everything is trending towards more globalization, not less.
A more interesting question raised here is “What should the goal of corporate governance be?” As of now, there is only one principle: maximize shareholder value. Interesting to learn that this has not always been the case. Maybe it’s time for business leaders to consider other impacts - like the effects on their fellow Americans - when making these decisions. I won’t hold my breath in that one though.
9
Is is not 1947 when the USA stood astride the rest of the world--who were still sweeping up rubble. If you make them choose between the American market and the world, they will probably pick the world.
And Trump keeps lying to them, like the factories did and unfortunately without education they believe it. Know why America is in turmoil despite record Wall Street profit, HERE is the reason.
5
Love to read comments blaming it on globalisation. Admit it. This is capitalism.
12
It is both globalization and capitalism.
5
Outstanding writing and reporting, Farah Stockman. I was very moved by this story of Shannon Mulcahy's employment challenges in this heightened age of capitalism. Thank you for the time you took to interview everyone and piece together this narrative.
I voraciously read employment/unemployment, wage and job statistics and stories where I can. Mostly because I have that fear that I could lose everything if my employer decided to "cut costs" and eliminate me or my whole team. Shannon says to Tadeo: "I was blessed for a while... Now it's your turn to be blessed." While I currently make the most money I ever have, and have superior benefits that are the envy of my peers, I too feel that this could be just temporary and disappear because of a "business decision" to please the shareholders. To be an employee today is to be uncertain of so many things: what the future holds, what benefits be taken away from me as a "cost-cutting initiative", whether or not my age is a pro or a con in my field, etc.
Shannon graciously and professionally trained those who would do her job, for a $5000 bonus that was basically a trick in my opinion. After serving the company for 17 years , I think this is disgusting.
Would I train my replacement? I would follow in my Dad's line of thinking: walk away with the knowledge inside my head.
16
Out of 1157 commenters your are the 11390th commenter to start your first sentence with the word "moved" or "moving" how about starting you first sentence with "pay" as in "I am willing to pay for US labor to...fix my basement...slaughter and cut my meat...wait on me at a restaurant...do my yard work...(this takes care of the "Dreamers" who you dream of working as undocumented workers for YOU so you don't have to pay what you should) or make my plastic items for parties or my "smart" phone for FREE (this takes care of slave laborers who make most of what you purchase for free or below free-- that you expect your and my kids to educate themselves and then compete with) but at east you are moved and that absolves you of any responsibility....
2
where was this article during the last presidental election! there is plenty of blame for the accendency of Trump. the nyt neglect of telling these peoples stories is one fault line. keep writing about the disinfranchied, NYT, and redeem yourselves.
13
Mexico is the front stage of this article, but the problem is China. It's the rigged Chinese economy cranking out cheap steel and components that forces good U.S. companies into this bad situation. And behind the China effect is, sadly, our own stupid politicians, who thunk it was a good idea to make friends with a huge communist behemoth, and then let them into the WTO just a couple years after the Tiananmen Massacre. Now, after all that, Washington has the nerve to point the finger at "big bad greedy companies" like Rexnard? Shameful.
1
Why I subscribe to The Times.
24
Wow. Outstanding writing, and thanks to all who participated.
This is like "Janesville," 8 years down the line.
No matter who you voted for, this (like "Janesville,") should be on your reading list.
As in "Janesville," I really hope key people chronicled here are followed.
5
Outstanding reporting. Exhibit A for the importance of getting as many people as possible access to affordable higher education and training. Nothing will stop factories from moving to places where goods can be made more cheaply and people paid less. We need to protect our own and make sure all have as good a shot as possible at a bright future. Shannon's daughter will hopefully move up on the back of scholarships she earned. Many others will not be as fortunate
5
Education isn't the answer for everything.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/us/toys-r-us-brings-temporary-foreign...
These people went to college; some were even tech workers.
1
The capitalist model needs fixing. I was stuck by the shared ownership back in the 1920s. Workers owning 45% and having a say in the company instead of what we have now, shareholder interest and executive shares.
It's doubtful capItalism can transition to such benevolence but this is what is required for longer term prosperity. Whilst labour costs are used as the leverage, companies can be profitable enough and pay decent wages without costly moves.
The disregard given to these workers, the affrontery of them having to train the new Mexican workers, watching as the plant and their livelihoods get dismantled is heart rending.
A new breed of entrepreneur is needed with an understanding of CSR to rebuild communities and government putting the right legislation in place. It is not about lowering corporate tax and giving more incentives to the wealthy; not when firms have spent the last 40 years laying off competant and hardworking staff.
6
An article that's inspiring and discouraging all at the same time. It really blows me away at how well Ms Mulcahy copes despite the obstacles, her commitment to make things better for her family, and her grace and compassion towards the people who will take her job in Mexico.
I did not expect the black workers' to have a more positive attitude than white men. But I guess when you look at their history of hardship, this may not be as devastating to them compared to their past.
I'm disappointed Trump let these people down, not that he alone can fix the problem but giving them the false impression that he could. Or would. I'm angry at the CEOs who treat humas as commodities.
5
After WWII the Allied Control Council established in Germany the condition that the supervisory boards of its major corporations have equal representation of labor on them, frequently referred to as Codetermination. So the corporations were partly accountable to their employees as stakeholders. Our society would be very different if corporate managements of our multinationals were partially accountable to their employees as stakeholders. Perhaps they would then feel a sense of responsibility for the communities wherein they grew.
I know of a number of privately held companies where the owners do feel a sense of responsibility for their employees. Often the third generation in the family will sell out to a conglomerate that cares not at all for the community wherein the company was nurtured. Others I know have taken the alternative route of selling the company to the employees. Once a company is publicly traded, Wall Streeters rule and employees become interchangeable pawns.!
11
I hope all our U.S. politicians and business owners read this story. Our country can’t survive without dependable, decent-paying jobs. Do the right thing, all of you who have the power to do so!
9
Many of these comments of apparently college educated people display the innumeracy of the assumption that if all people worked hard enough they could both get a college education & get a professional (engineer, doctor, lawyer ...) job, and so be protected from having their jobs sent to be done by no rights slaves overseas or their "unskilled jobs" wages killed by the present 1% orchestrated flood of legal-illegal immigrants into the US. The truth is that way less than 100% of jobs in any society are these secure "skilled jobs", so even if all of us 'lazy', 'not as hard working' American nativists got PhD's there still would not be living wage jobs for over 50% of hard working people - who's labor is needed to do ~50% of the jobs that our civilization can not survive without. The obvious question never asked is precisely why is "unskilled" work like the service industry work many who lose factory jobs have to move into so poorly paid? And bizarrely even though our civilization would collapse if this work were not done why is it not thought to be important enough to pay a person a living wage to do? I have 3 university degrees and have also worked at all manner of manual labor jobs. Aside from historical traditions of elite theft I can't figure out why what our 1% arbitrarily call "unskilled" jobs are considered less important than most professional ones. Just because this wage theft is done in 3rd World where people have no rights does not mean we have to allow it in the USA.
47
"Wage theft" is exactly the right term for what has been going on since 1980.
The salary and perks of the CEO's have soared, at the expense of the hourly wage-earner. The productivity gains and the increase in GDP have only benefitted the one-percenters, as wages have stayed flat. The corporations and the wealthy have gamed the system and taken over the government and are now running the country as a corporate kleptocracy. Watch them steal even more from the citizens.
1
The USA has become a place where well-earned reputations (such as the quality of ball bearings made by this company) are traded-in and cashed out by CEO's who want to juice their stock options and teams of Harvard MBA's who all want to make their mark by embarking on financial engineering instead of the type of engineering that invents and builds things.
Until the system is reformed we will hear a lot of more "that sucking sound" that Ross Perot warned us about as our high-value jobs are exported. Trump had a good instinct to make his campaign about keeping these kinds of jobs, too bad he wasn't really prepared to do anything to make it happen.
14
When our Democracy becomes an oligarchy, who wins? The moneyed rule, they choose who we can vote for and then spend oodles of money to get them elected. Voters are moved by propaganda tuned to the oligarch’s benefit.
Absent the income distribution effect offered by manufacturing jobs, the working class lost wealth / political power. Absent the voice of unions, workers are hopelessly divided, without an effective voice to balance the Capitalist’s interests. The corruption within unions became the petard unions fell on and killed the goose that laid the golden egg for workers. Without organized opposition, transfer of manufacturing jobs outside the USA could not be stopped nor ameliorated. Anti-union memes and political propaganda traps unions.
Gig jobs and service jobs are on the rise. They are without political power. The workers are increasingly servile, servants to the capitalists. The workers easily believe that they are free in a free country. Absent political/economic power, they remain in their station.
Only the wealth possessed by the top 10 to 20% actually provides a modicum of real freedom to control their lives to mitigate for themselves existential threats including global warming, food / water shortage, political unrest incited by memes and propaganda disseminating by the internet and press.
The political uprising in this country, led by seemingly unsavory characters, may or may not have the elements to change the scenery for the better.
9
Shannon's story is becoming the story of the American employee no matter what he or she does for a living. Companies do not believe that they have any obligations to their employees or the communities they draw from or settle in. Their sole obligation is to make money for the shareholders even if it hurts the employees, the communities, or consumers.
I'm not Shannon but I'm unemployed now too. I have a bachelor's degree in biology. I retrained to work in computers because the jobs I used to do in research were given to post-docs or immigrants in exchange for green cards and less pay. I was "downsized" from a job at a Japanese company because I was 3 months away from turning 55 and I'd reported that another employee had been sexually harassed. Shannon, myself, and other Americans are being sacrificed for profits and that is shortsighted. Corporations are destroying the "American Dream" to prop up their bottom line. This will implode at some point because once we cannot buy anything the economy will collapse.
I'm sorry that she and others believed Trump. In New York we knew better than to believe a word he or the GOP said about jobs or caring about America or her citizens. Unfortunately for Shannon and the rest of us shabby dishonest treatment at every stage of our working lives has become routine. Employees have no power. What we need is a new union movement that encompasses all workers. We could fight back then.
28
I don’t care how people voted and I don’t care how much they may blame people like us or if we can even make a future together as a country.
The fact that they shorted her her $5,000 bonus is disgusting, evil, hellfire worthy. How can executives do that? How can they go back on a promise? Those individuals are sick! Whatever other choices she and her family made, they deserve their bonus. This entire economy makes me sick. They treat them like slaves.
If only our white brothers and sisters would stand with us... maybe we could break this sick system. It is time for a general strike.
25
"white brothers and sisters" - I'm a brother. Go and get some treatment.
3
So basically it's wherever in the globe you can find the cheapest labor and maximize shareholders profit. And then eventually automation. Gotta find that job that will withstand all that change! But what could that possibly be? And where, if you factor in housing, food, bills, (maybe) a family...
4
congress?
3
This is wonderfully written. It's simultaneously depressing, uplifting and enraging.
That this is happening (times millions) in the "richest" country in history is totally indefensible. How long are we going to allow this to go on? Capitalism and predatory capitalism are two completely different things; it isn't left versus right it's most assuredly up versus down. Shrieks of "class warfare" are nothing but smokescreens to enable division and shaming. As the sharing of the pie continues to get more and more distorted, the only way this ends well is with candidates, parties and VOTERS who insist on a government that serves the entire populace. A government that acts in accordance with the Preamble to the Constitution would be nice.
19
Why did the Mexicans have less right than her? They didn't. Where the state failed her was not syphoning money to her to retrain before this happened.
1
I think the company should be forced to pay her the promised bonus. That is a breach of contract. In a related article I read "When the German engineering company Siemens Energy opened a gas turbine production plant in Charlotte, N.C., some 10,000 people showed up at a job fair for 800 positions. But fewer than 15 percent of the applicants were able to pass a reading, writing and math screening test geared toward a ninth-grade education." I notice in Shannon's household only one member actually graduated high school. FWIW, while I applaud Nicole going to college, Perdue is very expensive and I think a person could graduated with a degree in nursing school without incurring so much debt. Perdue is perfect and probably worth it if attending for aerospace engineering.
13
This has not happened in a vacum. Twenty-four years ago it was the Hudson Valley when IBM closed its factories. Before that the textile mills (first up North, then down South), in my corner of the world it was Carrier air conditioners, Marcellus casket, Oneida Silver/flatware, Nestle's, Chrysler, Allied Chemical etc. etc. It's been going on since the 1980s.. probably started in 1970s when Nixon made nice with China. This is an old story.
20
What would it take for the U.S. to adopt policies like Germany's, where workers have real protections? Maybe the currently dormant/lack of ideas Democratic Party could adopt positions that mirror Germany's - in trade policies as well as universal healthcare and free tuition. Might be more enticing than "A Better Deal."
28
"What would it take for the U.S. to adopt policies like Germany's ...?"
Taxing the rich, since doing that takes money.
14
The U.S. could start by requiring by law that a certain percentage of every corporation's supervisory board be elected by the workers. Germany does this - it's called "codetermination". The percentage of labor on the board is determined by the size of the company. German workers have much more of a say in what the corporation does than American workers, who currently are just treated like pawns, or expendable parts.
2
juanita - excellent idea (codetermination)....to require by law that a certain percentage of every corporation's board be elected by the workers. Imagine the workers being at the table where the decisions were made - maybe the currently moribund Democratic Party could look into ideas like this, or other ways in which the Germans have empowered and protected workers.
2
It's not a zero-sum game. As long as we continue to blame "others" for the gravitational pull of lower labor costs, whole sectors of the labor force will continue to be flushed down the toilet. Where there is no cooperation, there is never enough. We want jobs at the expense of others; others want jobs at the expense of us. Why should ANYONE'S family suffer because YOU need a job? They need a job, too! So, either you both cooperate your way to prosperity or you will all drown in the exact same boat. Idiots!
6
Investors and corporations are punching the holes in the bottom of the boat. Not employees.
9
Thanks to the author and to the Times for showing us this reality. one of the best articles I've read!
18
The government has to help retrain the displaced employee. why can’t the government help start the retraining for a related job using the soon To be ex employees existing skills as a starting skills set u would think the dept of labor would be giant job bank and the us and state governments and the leaving company would pay retraining and subsidize a new job at a company listed in the dol job bank. In exchange for tax credits the company had to hire the ex employee that theodolite job bank found and sent them. Unions and companies recruit and retrain displaced workers from closing companies info new green industries with the state and federal govt providing coordination and sharing some of the expenses until the new green industry and new employee stabilized and the govt could even give the company contracts to get it going. That’s how Germany does it the government works with industry and labor to transfer resources and labor from one slowing sector of the economy to a growing one
Of course this means we all pay taxes and encourage a good efficient government that we except governments role in our complex world of regulating and coordinating economic growth in a way that helps of of our citizens
15
I agree 100%.
After reading this story, I think the word "deplorable" cost Mrs. Clinton the election. I come from the working class so I don't feel that way. but I remember fellow students/employees who did.
We know so little about those whose lives are different from ours. One way to start reviving our country is to step out of our comfort zone and learn about how different others are, what they are up against, and how so much is stacked against them.
After reading this and comparing what I think is a problem vs. what Shannon thinks is a problem, I feel like a spoiled brat. A leaky bathroom pipe? Really.
16
Farah, you did a great job of letting us really see this incredible woman in the context of the larger story of American jobs being lost due to factories moving overseas. Thank you.
19
When I've been a part of similar situations as Mrs Mulcahy, the handwriting was on the wall long before the actual event; be it a plant closing, outsourcing, etc. I would ask if she had an inkling of what was to happen and, if so, did she take any steps like retraining while she was making good money w/benefits? That would have been the time. She defends Trump, "Everybody's fighting him". No Mrs Mulcahy, he's a con man who built an empire by scamming, lying, and stiffing hard-working people like you.
35
The sad reality of workers like Shannon is that they are not in control of their situations. They are desperate to keep jobs and naturally hope politicians like Trump, who mouths the words they want to hear, but will stick it to them anyway.
Shannon wanted Trump to try to save her plant and job, but worried about his plans for healthcare. This is a complex decision that she shouldn’t be blamed for. It is not like Democrats really offered much in the way of help.
Democrats would dispute this by pointing out their support for safety net programs, but folks like this don’t want that kind of help. They want jobs because everyone there knows that government checks are for the poor and the lazy. Sorrry, but that is the cultural divide. Those safety net checks are just proof that you don’t want to do more than consign them to the dustbin.
Some of the blame goes to their state representatives who have sold them on low taxes and left them begging for rich folks scholarship money. Those evil blue states that have those horrible high taxes, that need to be reigned in by the way by federal tax punishment, have done a better job of providing continual educational opportunities and have incubated new industries around their universities. Where in hell were their states when all this has been happening?
9
Democrats offered education but higher education is broken, a scam with costs that bear no relation to the near poverty level salaries of junior staff.
That’s the untold story here. When community college and trade school is paid by society with just fees and books paid by families (so they have skin in the game), maybe people would have a better chance. It would not feel like a handout. I am liberal and I don’t want a handout either, but by the grace of all that is good I got an education.
That’s the difference.
9
Americans talk out of both sides of our mouths. We want to keep our high-paying jobs, but want low cost goods. How many people whining about "greedy corporate bosses" shop for tools at Harbor Freight, drink French/Australian/Italian wine (or German beer), and drive a Subaru (most of whose key components are imported from Asia and assembled here). Buying a foreign company's product that is assembled in the USA is better than nothing, but keep in mind that a lot of the knowledge-work (e.g., engineering) was done overseas. Bottom line - SEARCH FOR AND BUY American-made products from American companies. If you don't, then your opinions about "foreigners stealing our jobs" are hypocritical and don't count at all.
12
And yet whenever I try to talk with people I know who shop at Harbor Freight and Walmart, etc. about how their purchases undermine the rest of their angry pro-American-jobs, anti-foreigners rhetoric, I'm called an elitist snob. It makes no sense...
3
Sorry. This is capitalism, red in tooth and claw. This has been happening for decades. My father worked on machinery for artists colors -- until the Japanese decided to take over the market. Luckily he had enough experience and reputation to get a job with the last American manufacturer, and then went freelance. One of our biggest problems is that we don't teach the truth about this in schools -- I mean high schools. Never get comfortable -- and people in manufacturing get comfortable. Capitalism is cruel and top executives make their money making money for their shareholders -- and don't care about employees -- just enriching themselves. We cry and wring our hands instead of writing about the true nature of capitalism and business in this country. It's a system that creates Apple and Facebook but destroys just as much as it creates.
17
"... until the Japanese decided to take over the market."
Or until the Americans decided to give up the market, because it wasn't sufficiently profitable.
6
When Shannon applied for a new job through the Union fair, among the requirements the rep listed was a high school diploma, a high school record, and no guarantee. Those are arbitrary must-haves to reduce the pool of applicants for available positions -- the poll tax on employment seekers. Shannon, fortunately, seems optimistic and motivated to learn new skills and to come up to speed to survive for her family and herself. What happened to her at Rexnord ought to show that 'social safety nets' make bearable the cruel reality of capitalism. Shannon is to be congratulated for pulling herself up by her own bootstraps, but there may be a time(s) when getting organized assistance for medicine, food, housing, and employment are needed. The reality of her circumstances and the personal cost of misplaced faith lead to that conclusion.
17
At 43 the High School Diploma seems irrelevant. I’d want to know what the person had been doing for the last 25 years.
6
A great follow on to this excellent article would be to track Nicole's experience at Purdue as a first generation, low income student. It's wonderful that she received such generous scholarship support, but that's just the start of what likely will be a difficult road.
14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTtjv7sSEpA
This is what manufacturers in the US are up against. Notice the heat treating line at about 2:30. Does it resemble what was described in the article? Old line factories without modern equipment and process management are doomed.
Businesses that can afford to make the investments will survive, but they will employ fewer people with better educations. How we deal with the disrupted lives of discarded workers remains to be seen.
3
Frank
Businesses that can afford to make investments...don't.
Take a look at my finally recovering Cleveland.
Big steel mills. Lots of jobs, lots of money.
Then the new American business mentality hit; that is, take your money now, while you can. Its what all the tycoons were doing.
So we lost to European and Asian "mini-mills", and the dumbfounded tycoons began whining about protectionism and unfair subsidies and disloyal customers.
When they finally awoke and decided to put a little cash into their businesses all the good workers were gone. The poorly maintained buildings needed a full resurrection. And what little money the spent, they spent on lobbying and PR.
It wasn't just steel that collapsed under the weight of their greed, it was the port, and shipping, and all the ancillary businesses.
Now these dastardly people, these noble "makers" and pillars of the economy spend their days telling former workers and their families to shut up and quit whining: "Lazy, entitled losers; get a job".
14
This is probably the best article written in the Times this year. Shannon’s story crystallized every news story I’ve read, seen or heard over the last 30 years about the changing nature of work and business in the world. For those of you still working in manufacturing jobs, I strongly suggest that you and your union look into making your company into an employee owned corporation. That way you focus on maintaining your company, your craftsmanship, and your most valuable assett of all: your employees. You also remove the Wall Street profit monsters from your throat. Seize the means of production and liberate yourself from the billionaire class. Trust me when I say that investors don’t care at all about you as people.
20
Chris, how will an employee owned company compete with their competitors who will pay less in labor and make cheaper products.
2
An employee owned company, for starters, probably won't pay the CEO a $40 million dollar salary, or $ 20 million in stock options.
1
This is a rare, well-done piece that takes a clear-eyed look at middle America without sneering.
16
Rather than fight the jobs moving out, workers would have been better insisting that all workers, wherever located, be paid fairly. Failing to stick up for others makes us all worse off, which is exactly what the conservatives want: you ready for the new slavery.
12
I was so happy Nicole was awarded college scholarships that tears came to my eyes. Then, I began thinking over how there are not nearly enough scholarships for all of our young people who could succeed in college, if they just had the money to pay tuition. States used to direct more money to public universities so students were not expected to pay such high tuition.
Now states have to underwrite much of the cost for the medical care, education, social services, correctional services, and so on for illegal immigrants. What little the illegal immigrants pay in taxes does not come close to what they cost taxpayers. This means there is little money left for state governments to support higher education and other needs to the same extent that they used to. The consequence of this is that many bright young Americans cannot afford to go to college.
If we continue to allow every migrant who manages to cross our borders to remain here, using our resources, then our present situation of our not having enough money to help our own citizens will continue to fester, until it explodes.
17
Note that the Trump administration has cut Pell grants for low income students, helping those without resources get into college, many for the first time in their family. In far too many cases, such help is the only way out of dead-end jobs, particularly those in fast-food.
14
This is a bit of a rant but here it goes - I think it is simplistic, naive and a cheap shot to blame this problem and lack of funding on illegal immigration. Our government is on the verge of a tax overhaul and budget reconciliation that could potentially increase military spending and decrease domestic spending on exactly the kinds of programs that could help retrain workers and provide a healthcare and educational safety net (the Republicans want to cut Medicaid, do away with ACA - how does that help people like Shannon?). The article is excellent, the issues raised by Shannon's predicament are complex, and ultimately I would say we need better worker protections when jobs do disappear or skill needs shift as the economy shifts. The system of compensating top executives is entirely unfair, but no one seems to have proposed a viable, realistic way to curb it. I'd also point out that I think in previous NYT articles, reporters have written about federal job retraining programs that by and large aren't successful because workers don't think they are beneficial- either the workers can't keep up with the training for whatever reason or the training isn't directed at skills that workers believe they need. So it's complex and our political system is broken. BUT it is not the fault of illegal aliens, nor is it a cause to support a racist, war monging president.
7
Barbara,
While I agree that low-income students should be able to get Pell grants, I would like to point out that Pell grants are paid by the federal government. The federal government does not have to balance its books at the end of the year. It has accumulated a debt of $19 trillion dollars. We will be paying back this debt, along with our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so on. I hope it does not hobble our country's future.
If state governments would not have to subsidize the daily lives of illegal immigrants, then they could give more money to public universities. Tuition would be lowered. Students would need less money from the federal government. The federal government would take on less debt for future generations to have to repay.
Maybe Mr. Adams of Rexnord will share of a few of his pocketed ball bearings with President Trump. Don't forget to gold plate them, Mr. Adams.
Only their advanced age will allow these short sighted greed mongers to live out their lives while laughing all the way to the bank. Oh, and anonymous shareholders stink.
10
Worship of the dollar over the well being of human beings and our planet at large comes to a head in 2017. Tocco workers in 1925 shared in the profits. Relentless undermining of unions, public education, and the environment in America allowed greed to win at the expense of nature, citizenry and democracy.
21
This company is risking its hardwon reputation for quality bearings. If it loses it, it loses everything. This company may be destroying itself by making this move. The young Mexican trainee already left for a better paying job. Seems like even their economic calculations might not be accurate. They clearly had no idea how much knowledge and expertise they were losing when they fired these workers.
20
What is worse? Losing manufacturing jobs to Mexico or providing a great feature article on this loss 25 years too late.
13
Just a thought... Maybe it's time for low-skilled American workers to start seeking jobs overseas? In Mexico, China, or India. All this while we import highly-skilled STEM professionals from India and China. Why not?
9
That's just what I thought when I saw the movie karate kid staring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith...saw his mom with no particular skills work in China.
I felt it was prophetic...the American workers as coolie..
Outstanding article. Remember too, this is the state of Pence, a state that other than 2008 has voted Republican in every Presidential election since 1964 and voted hugely for Trump/Pence in 2016. Let me say that I am a retired GM/UAW member and that if the Rexnord and Carrier union is like mine, probably over 50% of the membership regularly votes Republican, not because they think they will be better off economically but because they buy into all of the "Obama is gonna take away your guns" baloney (he didn't) and the idea that white people are systematically being eliminated from the workforce (no more than anyone else). That Democrats routinely have stood up for rights granted by the NLRA and protected by the NLRB doesn't seem to register, although these same workers get their feathers ruffled by Republican right-to-work laws and jobs being sent to Mexico (mostly by Lily-white Republican CEOs). Therefore, In actions only a psychologist could fathom, they continue to vote for pied pipers like Trump, a lousy businessman himself who was literally born with the silver spoon and whose every word is a lie and who in another day would have been the sworn enemy of most blue-collars.
It boggles the mind, it does... it amazes me that she helped train replacements. It also saddens me, that if this article is accurate, that black workers had no qualms about doing this. In the light of BLM and wanting protest support from Americans, this is not setting a good example of solidarity.
16
What a brave and feisty lady. My heart goes out to her and her family and all the people that have been and are being displaced by "capitalism run amok."
Disgusting how much the head of the company has made on the backs of hard-working U.S. workers. Wait until all those people see that Donald Trump is not their champion and that they're actually going to get totally screwed by him and the Republican party. Hopefully, they'll figure out that it's the Democratic party that really cares about them and their families.
7
This was high, high quality journalism. Great article. Great narrative, great background, bravo.
16
Fine story. Reminds me of Anthony Shadid's work on the Middle East. It's rare to get both a strong sense of how it is for people on the front lines, and the perspective that provokes thought about who are we really and what are we becoming.
11
Trump is right Nafta has to go and high tariffs have to be placed on all foreign goods
10
wrong. nafta helps our economy in so many ways. I work in the steel industry also and my company sells made in USA products to Mexico and all over the world.
3
Jjlime,
.
Ever hear of a "trade war?" Because that's what you get when a country does as you say ought to be done.
.
High tariffs kill the economies of all countries involved. Do you think we could raise our tariffs without consequence, or that manufacturing and the economy occur in a vacuum?
2
Comments focus on the ills of globalization.
They point out correctly that white collar jobs at tech firms like IBM are not immune.
But having children when you are young, bouncing between unstable romantic relationships, dropping out of school, etc... is guaranteed to make you immensely more vulnerable to this type of disruption. Promoting stable families and improving our education system are more important than waging a futile war against trade.
Nice to see the NYT acknowledge (indirectly) that immigrants, undocumented and otherwise, do drive down wages for Americans - in jobs like landscaping and painting that cannot be outsourced...
12
This is an extremely well written story about the socio-economic peril of our times. Shannon's, albeit interrupted, dedication to hard [specialized] work has obviously served as an example to her daughter in her daughter's march to the future by means of a necessary education for the next generation.
14
I bought a tiny dohicky yesterday to water a potted plant over an extended period of time.
A little plastic and pottery thing, five bucks, beautifully designed and made, but NOT made in China. Made in Germany where wages are NOT low and costs are NOT low. Germany can do it. Why can't the USA?
25
It's obvious that workers, both white-and blue-collar, need more power. I think the only hope is a Bernie Sanders-like President, who thinks like a liberal European. And who has the following and the means to run a successful third-party bid.
18
Farah Stockman' article about Shannon Mulcahy and the closing of the the steel bearing plant in Indianapolis was heart-wrenching. Is there a fund for Shannon and others like her?
9
Donate directly to your local food banks and homeless shelters.
8
The one thing missing from this fantastic article is a fighting spirit. Why haven't more workers staged factory sit-ins? Why don't they try to take over the factory? The workers have earned the right to control the factory after devoting their lives to it. Why should shareholders with no personal investment in the community or factory get to call the shots? There is too much respect for private property and not enough respect for humanity. If workers from the thousands of factories that have shut down and moved off-shore were carried out of the factories by force in a cloud of tear gas I believe that we might have adjusted our trade policies by now.
10
It is called corporate capitalism, and it should be illegal. The people who do the work--not the state, and not lazy people who seek to benefit from the labor of others- should own the means of production, and leadership should come from within.
3
People should form worker owned cooperatives and there should be tax incentives and low interest or subsidized loans to assist communities in developing them.
6
We've lost our sense of commitment, honor and decency as exemplified in this story of this woman, Shannon, and her family. The comparison to Germany and their treatment of skilled workers belies the real face of our so-called great country. The lack of support for the Shannons and the rise in wealth of the top people who run things and shareholders to whom they are completely beholden as in the story, is a Dreiser tale from the past. But it is today. One reads of the Trumpians and his cabinet and others who are devotees of Ayn Rand, who have behaved unethically as business people as has the president and who misuse their positions of power as in the use of private planes all speak to this nasty truth of how business is run today. For each person who says Shannon should train should be ashamed for their lack of empathy or understanding of the bottom line, as it were. And tax reform is up next for our fearless leader. It is more clear why in fact he was elected.
8
And think of how Trump's cutting subsidies to insurers is going to decimate her granddaughter. That has to give his base pause.
4
Outsourcing, manufacturing relocation, avocados from Mexico. For any company this is just a math exercise. And not just because of shareholders or company execs, it's about the people who buy the products. Will you buy the car, phone or fruit at 4x the price if it was stamped "Made in USA?". I didn't think so.
7
Sounds about right. You can find her story in a thousand New York Times “The Neediest Cases” section too. What’s the answer?
5
More education and training for displaced manufacturer workers
2
We can only take on the war against manufacturing after we've won the war on coal. Believe me.
But we're not going to talk about the war on retail. Fake News!
2
Interesting and tragic personal story. But as economies evolve, there always winners and losers. How many new jobs are are there in Indiana because economic development in Mexico allows Mexicans to buy US goods and services. This is a benefit of NAFTA we don’t hear Mr. Trump discussing.
4
That benefit did not occur. Due to corrupt unions and government there are no effective unions. Wages in Mexico have not gone up. There are no new jobs in Indiana because of Mexican consumer purchases.
7
I retract my last reply. Link was data from Mexico Secretary of Labor. That apparently is the fake news. My apologies.
1
Another unfortunate person without enough education to see through the obvious Trump lies. Vote for Trump and you get what you deserve, nothing.
12
But remember, she didn't vote at all. Didn't matter, but still
2
A heartbreaking story! All I can say is that I am glad it was the so-called “rust belt” that handed Hillary that defeat last November. The democrats betrayed the American worker.
10
Politicians do not run the show, as much as they would like to think so. The robber barons have controlled this country since the industrial revolution began. They did so more quietly for a while after WWII, but the international banks and megacorporations started openly buying the government, writing their own rules, and treating anyone not in their club with open contempt under Reagan's benevolent eye; the breaking of the air controllers' union signaled the onset of the oligarch's war against America.
10
Politicians don’t run the show - what a cop out! If “Politicians” were indeed powerless, nobody would contribute five cents to their campaigns. H’s campaign raised about a billion dollars. The 1% were expecting great things from her.
1
You say that "the democrats betrayed the American worker". How so? Because they didn't stop the rape of the country by Republicans? How about holding the Republicans responsible for what they did to the US, from Reagan on down?
2
This is the most well written and important story I've read in a long time. Thank you Shannon for allowing us into your life and thank you Farah Stockman for choosing this subject and the time and respect you bestowed upon it. Now I understand the struggle of fellow hard working middle class Americans even better and why so many bought into Trump's lies so blindly.
14
Let's face it, the inflation of the 70's led to one main goal - lower labor costs no matter what. Led by Reagan and the MBA's, manufacturing was the easiest target, especially since the corporations knew the real market was where the people lived - not the US. So they have to set up shop there.
These workers, with their GED's and brawn, are considered to be disposable and irrelevant, other than to do menial work or fight the wars.
The USA cares about one thing above all else - money. It's just who we are. Why else would we not want to offer healthcare and decent jobs to our own people? Flag worship is phony patriotism - real patriots care about their fellow citizen.
33
Is there a single corporation in this god-forsaken country that operates with a sense of honor, decency, responsibility, community?
20
Thank you for this touching and heartbreaking story. I wish Shannon all the luck in the world.
6
I love how conservatives whine when they feel that gov't is intruding in their lives (e.g. healthcare), but feel it's government's fault when companies make business decisions and move manufacturing overseas. Personally I find this practice shortsighted and irresponsible, but it's probably going to happen no matter what I think and no matter what Trump voters think.
13
Sad. These desperate people counted on Trump, but they didn't understand that they were a couple of Tweets to him - nothing more. Even when he did not come through, the fault was "people were fighting him." Seriously? He's the President! Democrats and Republicans both would cheer if Trump got this done.
Trump was not blocked by anything except Trump: his monstrous ignorance, inability to build relationships, dismal negotiation skills (based only on threats), and the attention span of a gnat. His followers don't see that Trump never did a darn thing in his life - only threw work to competent people who did the actual thinking, lifting, and follow through. Why is nothing getting done in DC? Because Presidents Do Real Work, something Trump has never done.
Did anyone win? It seems the factory transplant failed, and even the trained Mexicans were moving on to better things. It would be useful to learn how well the work is getting done in Mexico six months later. Until then, I would not trust my life to a new bearing by untrained newbies working on breaking equipment they do not understand.
One bus or train crash - and the 30 million saved is gone in an instant. So much for bearings.
14
Great article, sad results. But it's just one tiny example of what's going on in American manufacturing. Replacing $25/hr jobs with $6/hr jobs. Walmart started it by sourcing all their goods outside of America, isn't it ironic that none of the workers that have lost their jobs to outsourced Walmart products now won't be able to even shop at Walmart anymore. What's next Dollar Stores?
All the while Donald and Ivanka are paying lip service to bringing jobs back to America while ALL of THEIR PRODUCTS are NOT MADE in America! What kind of fools do the Trumps think everyone is? We get it, we understand what you're doing looking out for your billionaire buddies. We NEVER see Donald walking the ghettos, the poor regions of America - instead he plays golf on wheekends while Puerto Rico is in shambles, or spends the weekend in his lush surroundings in one of his Country Clubs, all the while claiming he's a great Christian (that we never see attending on Sundays).
Trump is all for himself, to hell with everyone else. He'll say and do whatever it takes to get the crowd to clap for him, only the crowd is made up with all these folks losing their jobs. SAD
13
The original NAFTA was just the US and Canada. Clinton added Mexico, which made no sense. How do workers in two first world nations compete with those making a few dollars a day? Here in Canada two jobs that I had were shipped off to Mexico. I would like to see free trade continue, but only between countries that have a similar standard of living.
11
This is not true... Clinton did not "add" Mexico to the treaty. The treaty under the three countries was directed by the first Bush administration. Look at the NAFTA Wikipedia at the very least before posting such inaccuracies.
7
Sad to read this rather good article. America sure knows how to shoot itself in the foot.
The corporations are too short sighted - chasing simply immediate better profits ... no patriotism - no commitment to the community - no pride in thier work or product or people - even the poor workers are taking the option of extra money to train workers who will replace them..
There is something obscene and debased about this state of affairs.
18
Then we wonder why the US has a heroin/fentanyl addiction and severe alcohol problems? There is so much hopelessness today for so many.
Currently we have OVER one million heroin/fentanyl addicts in this country and growing. Who knows exactly how many alcoholics but I'd be willing to guess at least 20% of the adult population.
We're turning into a very bad place to live in, trying to cope with the inequalities, injustices, homelessness, crime, prisons and no real future.
Many of us would hit the needle/bottle if we were in similar situations.
14
And the Fentayl is not coming from Mexico; it's coming from China.
1
Why isn't the transfer of both our technology and jobs a National Security issue? Both Political Parties have sold us out!
7
So this is how these evil white supremacist Trump voter looks like?
6
Did she vote for Trump? I missed that.
Curious that this is all about Mexico and not Texas.
Preliminary research shows that TX imposes a 1% tax on businesses; IN a 6.25% tax. Mexico’s corporate tax rate is 30%, compared to the US 35%, complementing lower labor costs.
Creative destruction is the way of the market; few factories make barrel staves or buggy whips any more. So there’s never a guarantee that any factory won’t fall victim to changing times.
That said, we impose the highest corporate tax rates in the world and often treat people who want to build things, dig holes, or use power as eco-criminals. If we want to “Make America Great Again”, all of that’s got to change. Taxes must be slashed – the corporate rate should be 0% – even if that means (HORRORS!!) that those horrible rich people get to keep more of what they earn. Regulation needs to be guided by human needs, not the perceived needs of fish. And unskilled immigration needs to end, so that people like the folks herein discussed will benefit from domestic labor shortages, inevitably making their lives better.
Do these things, and America will prosper. Do them not, and every last one of us will suffer.
1
No one pays a 35% corporate rate with all the special deductions, etc..An effective tax rate is 20% or under.
13
Fantastic writing, thank you!
Dear Bub,
It's time to dig deep and get a job. Get in the game like your amazing mother and sister. You chose to have a child and she is going to depend on you.
16
In Germany the average person could not live on factory wages for cheap goods either. That is why Germany built a partnership with its people to educate them for the different career tracks. Some have called them discriminatory but for the most part it has kept the powerful German manufacturing engine turning out high class products while providing amply for their health care and education while protecting the environment. College is free and they have universal health care. Gee maybe we could learn something from them instead of continuing to grind our workers into the dust by egregious (polite term- the one I was thinking of began with F) companies like this. http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/24/opinion/shank-albrecht-manufacturing-jobs/...
17
This is a MAGNIFICENT article, Pultizer Prize-worthy. I wonder how they found Shannon. Her story is great on so many levels.
10
There are women like Shannon everywhere in this country. Just open one's eyes.
8
In middle-age with family commitments, 5 years is a long wait to go from $16 to $30/hr. But if you're still in high school with no tuition-scholarship offer, which is better? A trade or a degree? After I got my B.S., it took 7 years in a federal engineering job to go from $13 to $30/hr, and pay-off my tuition-free college loan. That was 1997. Even today, a $60K to $80K white collar job is darn good money, yet a Californian union construction can gross $80K without working a full year. And many employers don't care about your white-collar piece of paper once you turn 40.
Just ticks me off that the education-industrial complex and society keep selling the message that college is for the "smarter" people.
But the "invisible hand" that runs things doesn't care about the color of your collar or your state. I feel for this Rust Belter. Goes to show that in the Midwest or on the coasts, a lot of us under the hood are just struggling, period. We have more in common than political trash talk leads us to believe.
12
I'm disappointed that she didn't vote for Hillary. As a steelworker she was breaking a glass ceiling and as a union member she should have known something about standing in solidarity. Plus the democrats have their flaws but they are MUCH more pro-union than the republicans.
15
Journalism at its best. The real lives of real people. This should be required reading for every American. Thank you so much for this. Farah Stockman has given us something of great importance. The photos by Alyssa Shukar help bring it all to life. Everyone involved in this project should be proud and rewarded.
25
Qui bono? This article is an excellent argument for Basic Income (and Medicare for All).
Is this a story about feckless management destroying another great American company, about smart management taking advantage of Nafta, or ordinary management just minimizing its cost of production? It doesn't matter. What matters is who benefits, and how we manage the social costs of economic dislocation.
When Shannon went to high school, no one told her that one day the ball bearing plant and many like it would pull up stakes and move to Mexico and Texas. No one warned her about globalization or the effect of right-to-work laws in the south. No one explained that the interstate highway system would make southern states viable factory locations because rail would become obsolete. She didn't think about those things, or vote for them. She just went to work.
Now she's a grandmother, and had the rug pulled out from under her.
Meanwhile, the guy in the C-suite didn't know those things would happen either. He just happened to be well positioned when they did. Very likely he considers himself smart for going to college, and maybe he is. But he didn't know globalization would make him rich.
Ditto the shareholders: lucky. No one knew in 1979 that 100% of the returns to globalization would accrue to the top 20% income bracket, mostly to the top 0.1%.
Those profits should be returned to the American people, who made them possible. Soak the rich, and give the 99% economic security.
26
Brilliantly done, thank you. My heart goes out to these families esp the heroic individuals like Shannon who keep putting one foot in front of the other. I was shaken 25 yrs ago touring a maquiladora factory in Tijuana, which took $17/hr plus benefits union jobs from Buffalo NY, instead paying workers $1/hr to assemble typewriters, which had become fairly unskilled work snapping components together. The Mexican minimum wage was $0.57hr at the time; workers didn't make enough for decent housing or transportation, but it was better than what they had. I wondered how US factory workers could compete against economies that didn't ensure livable compensation for workers, or decent quality of their cities and natural capital (ecology). That's a sad bottom line that doesn't much serve humanity; a race to the bottom. Factories (including software development) are being moved to developing countries to maximize profits on the backs of developed country workers and communities that face inherrently higher costs of living - not their fault. But many of these factories being moved are profitable right where they are - just not maximally profitable. One solution is to change the corporate tax code to give huge tax breaks (like 75% tax rate reduction) to worker owned companies (I mean: majority owned by non-managerial workers) such that the only economically-justifiable corporate structure is such ownership. These owners would ensure profitability, and not move the jobs elsewhere.
10
As a follow-up to my earlier comment about companies moving between states instead of out of the country - I would really like to see you do a series of articles on this issue. States like New York invest heavily in their K-12 educational systems, and it's the largest part of our tax burden. Then our children move away to high-growth states like Texas that have not traditionally made the same kinds of investments. General Electric, for example, moved their marketing department from upstate NY to Atlanta when the turbine division was making record profits. They also moved their corporate headquarters from Schenectady, NY to Connecticut, and now they are moving to Massachussetts. Is it just a coincidence that the move comes as Connecticut has finally imposed a state income tax?
12
Excellent article, hopefully a Pulitzer, truly well written. While Ms. Mulcahy is clearly a survivor and a decent person, hopefully there are robust programs to aid her in finding her next employment. Hopefully NYT can illuminate what options she has in terms of the benefits she is able to access (A promise of NAFTA) given that liberals were partly sold on NAFTA's retraining progams.
Maybe on the strength of this article some attorney will be willing to help her and probably others get back their promised $5,000 bonus, plus attorney fees.
Classic corporatism, tossing Ms. Mulcahy aside and ignoring the company's promises to her the instant she finished instructing. Hopefully we can all send a message to Mr. Todd Adams, Rexnord's CEO and inform him that since Ms. Mulcahy and her colleagues helped him earn a bonus, the least he could do is honor hers and make these instructors whole.
25
There is a real possibility that some of our children or grandchildren will have to leave the US to seek work elsewhere as we continue to mechanize and de-industrialize.
10
Already happening with our young people with higher degrees.
5
This woman did not bother to vote in the last presidential election and also favored the fascist, racist, women-hating Trump? No pity whatsoever for her and her kind. They're getting exactly what they deserve. May more of their jobs be sent abroad until they wake up, stone fur having plunged the USA into its current quagmire, and start taking part in the most vital part of our civic life -- voting in elections.
9
Whoa! I oppose Trump as much as you apparently do, but this woman would likely have voted for Trump if she'd voted at all. She was rightly cynical about his inflated promises, but the democrats didn't have much of a message or a plan for people like her either. Nobody deserves what happened to her and others in this community, whether they voted for Trump or didn't vote at all.
13
Let me get this straight, Helicopter -- she did not even VOTE, but you are scoring and punishing her for "favoring Trump"?
What about all the other workers at her factory? Do you know precisely who voted for Trump, who voted for Hillary and who did not vote at all? and will you punish them each according to their votes?
1
Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is true, actual capitalism. Dog eat dog, survival of the fittest, and Greediest. Continue voting GOP, and the great majority of Americans will be in this same situation. That's their GOAL, that's their motivation. The choice is YOURS.
Please, choose WISELY.
18
If that is what they want then remember the French revolution.
3
Everything that happened to Shannon and those just like her over the last 50 or so years has been facilitated by the greed of the 1% with the cooperation of the politicians who are also one percenters. We now have the richest congress and cabinet in history. We should ponder that for a minute. Examine the contents of the article and look at who we have representing us in congress and the White House and who has been present in these positions in the past.
How is it that so many politicians for so long allowed the very lifeblood of the largest middle class on the planet be outsourced to other countries? And it continues with all the information we now have about the damage these policies cause and the known threat to our economy and even national security.
We were taught you could be anything you wanted to be in America. That was true at one point, but not today.
We were sold out. The greater good and integrity has been replaced by the need for greed and instant gratification by those few who control the politicians they empower with their money and donations.
The "government of the people, by the people and for the people" no longer applies in the United States as we are not represented by anyone who has our best interests in mind. Gerrymandering, elections meddling and Citizens United took care of what was not previously destroyed by neglect, greed and incompetence.
We can't throw the bums out and replace them with other bums.
Good luck.
11
Several commenters have stated that the sole function of corporations is to make as much money as possible, so too bad American workers.
This, of course, is nonsense. It is the equivalent of stating that our only role as individuals is to make as much money as possible, and to hell with everyone else. Any notion of good citizenship, decency, fairness, and the common welfare would be for losers.
This might apply in the universe of scummy real estate developers, but it is not what makes America great. On the contrary, it highlights the vulgarity of laissez faire capitalism.
Thank Ronnie Reagan for the reintroduction of this vulgarity to our culture. The rise of the era of wealth inequality is exactly coincident with his regime.
17
Heartbreaking
6
The real story is "Mr. Adams got $40 millions dollars and his employees get the shaft!" Today, the Republican Party, the Party of Trump, wants to lower Mr. Adams taxes so he'll invest more in America! Ah, he's sending manufacturing jobs to Mexico so he can make more money for himself. The irony of the real story should be what we're reading about!
23
The article was very well written and very transporting . The solutions are present and here. Oh by the way half the jobs to McAllen Texas and not one mention of it.
https://cozzy.org/
5
I like the way this article was written. It is very honest, very fair but never forgot that it is about people - their hopes, failures, and their divergent attitudes. It touched on politics (what's not touched by politics these days) but not to the extent that it should have been the overreaching factor in this situation. The economic world continuously changes and with that people eventually get affected. I know it sounds clinical and there is nothing clinical in peoples' lives, but like or not, economic, political and financial (yes, including those hated wall street leeches sucking their dirty millions while minions wipe whatever is left on the dirty floor) factors have a devastating and unforgiving effect. This is where a responsible government should intervene and layout steps to alliviate the dire conditions of the citizens with well-thought of and funded programs, not palliative, but long-lasting ones. I was about to say non-political but in today's environment, every loss or uptick or downtick of unemployment statistics is political. But it is a responsible government which should realize that the economic world continuously spins and thinks hard and far ahead to give their citizens a relatively economic soft landing.
4
About time the NYT starts talking to those workers in middle America who have been getting the shaft for way too long. It helps to understand the 'other' side.
How are people supposed to buy a house or pay rent and utilities and food and insurance and health care and a running vehicle and all else on minimum wage or even $15/hour today?
This glaring inequality is starkly dividing. Greed at the top is killing us, all of us.
13
Tariffs are the answer. If we are going to protect workers by passing child labor laws, rules that make overtime, that make osha-safe workplaces, that make clean air and water, and on and on there needs to be a tariff on goods coming to us but made outside our borders. Free trade is a false ideal. Take the example of child labor, are we willing say that goods made by children outside the borders of the USA are acceptable because the notion "free trade" gives a dispensation to those goods? When we adopt a standard that standard needs protection from offshore business practices. Protectionism is not a dirty word when it entails measures to protect standards.
7
For the new 'Rexnorda' product that is off to a rocky start, they'll find Texas process technicians to work out its flaws. And the next cycle may occur: some Asian company will reverse engineer the bearing lines and produce them overseas. It's a bitter outcome of American economic mechanics in this article that is at stage two of many more, but an ultimate American justice that Shannon has kept her pride.
3
Trump was so plainly unqualified and his mental faculties' deficiencies were so on display that it is hard to categorize anyone that would fall for the snake oil pitch as deplorably dumb. There is no other way to put it. When a man starts talking about shooting someone random in the street and his supporters not caring, and yet you vote for him, THAT is deplorable. hardship is life, but you are still responsible to be an informed electorate, or AT LEAST demand someone GOOD at lying OR HARD-WORKING and deceitful, to be your savior. Not the single-worse blowhard, petty bully, lazy, reality-denying, sexually predating and celebratory locker-talker around. No excuse. It's right there on display for everyone. And everyone had to make that choice to ignore it before the election. A conscious, deplorable choice. All to make the rest of us suffer with you. I would have done happily through taxation for job training, or any number of other methods ANYWAY. But you had to vote this guy in so he could destroy THE REST of America.
7
Heartbreaking................
3
This article is a good example of why I cannot get into the NY Times online very much. On and on, repeatedly going off on non-sequitur tangents. If this was in print, an editor would have chopped this thing down to one-fourth the size. I just cannot get through it all and that's unfortunate because I was interested in what happened to Shannon and her factory co-workers but you finally lost me with the granddaughter losing her fingers. What in the heck does that have to to do with the story of American workers losing their jobs to outsourcing? I'm going to need to look for my online news elsewhere, and that is a shame.
It's called longform journalism.
8
So, the Times is now exploring the other side of the equation, for a change???
So maybe it's NOT great to have open borders and NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement and agreements that go against Americans' interests???
6
What a smart, impressive, talented woman. How stupid was Rexnord not to retain such expensively-acquired institutional knowledge. Brains and dedication, hard work and experience; how crazy to lose that.
11
"You know, the only trouble with capitalism is capitalists. They're too damn greedy."
--Herbert Hoover
9
Powerfully written article. Horrible that American companies focus only on money; not on product and not on employees. That she would be so supportive and in the end they screw her out of what they promised. Lies and greed are corrupting the soul of America. And Trump is no savior. There is no savior...but you can believe that these ball bearings will be faulty because the company sacrificed quality of their nameless stockholders and any one of us invested in mutual funds is complicit.
7
I'm not criticizing the people in this story. They were simply misled by the right. But I have to point out that one of those "safety nets" the left talked about is job training, because the reality is that the world is changing quickly and we need to help people deal with it if we want to remain strong as a nation.
5
Correct-- Clinton had detailed policy proposals for reeducation and assistance for displaced workers in hand. But too many people were not listening, and the majority party does not care because they have already been paid off.
5
Anyone whose been laid off a few times -- that would be moi -- knows that promises of "retraining" are pure bunk.
What those companies (or Hillary) mean are some vague courses about "filling out resumes" or "dressing for success" -- and then maybe a work center where you get access to phones and xerox machines for a few months -- some help on your resume -- some coaching -- but no real effort at finding you a JOB.
The "training" is never more than that which would get you a job at a call center, as a customer service rep.
They are not "retraining" people in any meaningful way, like a four year college degree (fully paid, plus living stipend) to get a nursing degree or a computer science degree -- because that would cost real money.
2
Outstanding article. Evocative and balanced. You (author) added a lot to my understanding of that part of the American experience. Thanks!
8
Lowering corporate taxes to 20% won’t create new jobs. It will just create more income taxed at lower rates than labor pays and more callous 1%’s who falsely think they earned it. Companies that don’t provide healthcare to their part time work force or companies that outsource should pay a penalty tax rate for years and per head laid off.
7
People with jobs pay taxes, feed their families, feel good about themselves.
There is massive work to be done in the US.
Mental health workers for addiction, infrastructure, teachers, environment vs
More crime, more prisons, more domestic violence
More jobs = less pain = healthier society.
Is that too simple an equation for DC to grasp?
2
Thanks for shining light on this NYT, and please do more. The issues are complex and the answers are not simple, but the first step is caring about it enough to pay attention.
9
Will the manufacturing standards get exported too? I doubt it. I hope I'm not in the elevator that crashes or burns because Shannon wasn't there to quality check every bearing every time. With luck, I'll just end up with my $800 washing machine motor failing after four years.
6
This is what Bill Clinton's NAFTA gets you.
14
Except NAFTA originated with and was negotiated by GHW Bush. Clinton signed, after making it somewhat more palatable with additional worker and environmental protections, though clearly they weren't enough.
By the way. US companies shifting jobs overseas predate NAFTA by a big stretch.
7
"To many, Rexnord was nothing more than three letters on a page — RXN — with an arrow pointing up or down."
Medieval Feudalism was better than this. At least land-lords had to keep you alive and couldn't sell you. Nor sell your livelihood out from under you.
They might even know your name--unlike the money-lords of latter day feudalism.
9
I'm sure the slavemasters knew their property's names too.
1
All that and they screwed her out of her bonus...
And don't think this can't happen to you. Education is no protection. I know computer scientists who have been forced to train their foreign replacements, and then been let go. Where I work, they are outsourcing work done by PhD scientists, to cheaper chemists working in India and China.
We are all disposable. As long as the rich get richer...
Unions, anyone?
29
Poor old President Trump. He's just about as hamstrung as Mr. Adams and Rexnord Corporation. Those anonymous shareholders are so darn demanding! Another example of the third digit on the invisible hand, having moved on, flipping the nation's workers off.
There must be health plans sooo cheap resulting from the Executive Order, coming your way, that'll pay for the taxi ride to the nearest hospital.
A special place in hell awaits.
7
Never marry someone that you met in a tattoo parlor.
10
Shannon,
As a mentor once reminded me, "We are human BEINGS, not human DOINGS."
You're a survivor.
Lot harder than it used to be, but you will make it.
3
Imagine the money lust of industrialists and financiers envisioning a future where all over the world people breed without planning. Endless pool of replacement eyes and hands seeking work! Or if you sell theology, endless undereducated credulous devotees to fill your pews. For the military bad time = lots of enlistees. Industry can then use it's profits to fight off taxes and make the situation even better, because people living with lousy infrastructure have even less freedom to make demands on employers.
DeTocqueville's "Democracy in America" written in the early 1800s is the fundamental analysis of the early American experience. Wages then were high, workers could decide to simply take a day off when they wished, bosses did not own a demeaning "you can be replaced" attitude, and if you lost a job you had no trouble finding another. The nation was mobile for workers, you could travel and be sure of work. Opportunity bred optimism and powered the values that created authentic, not phony, patriotism. Labor value was the seed stock of true national greatness in the hearts of minds of citizens. Under poor times for labor national greatness becomes robotic rhetoric used to set workers against one another.
The lesson is that overpopulation is a self defeating process for working people. Big money & big religion will never say a word about population growth rates, because you are an asset who's earning value is highest to them when it is lowest to yourself.
9
Shannon and many like her are the reason that Trump is in the white house. The past 25 years have brought misery to millions of working class Americans due to their jobs being sent elsewhere. No one talked about that until Trump did. No one talked about the undocumented who take away manufacturing jobs from Americans until Trump did. With unemployment at its lowest, Trump is on the right track but still 12 million Americans have to find appropriate jobs. Any American government by Americans for Americans and of Americans should put Americans first before running around the world trying to find who else can be helped and receive resources of the American tax payers. The democrats abandoned the working class by pandering to everyone other than the average Americans and encourage open borders and free movement of opiods and drugs and cheap labor and massive entitlements paid for by the American tax payers. What Happened? the working Americans realized their game and threw the bums out. If Dems think they can keep playing the same game with those within their vote bank, the African Americans and the Hispanics will throw more of the dems out. Every American white blue brown, pink, yellow or multiple colors has the same needs and wants them fulfilled which includes jobs, affordable health care, safety in their homes and their surroundings, assistance when there is a natural disaster, support if they start a small business and a world at peace not terrorized by barbaric people.
10
Talk is about all you will get from Trump. So what are the Republicans doing for workers? Anything?
1
NAFTA has literally killed thousands of American workers. Drugs, alcohol and depression, leading to high blood pressure. Where is the payoff to Americans? The top 1% get richer and the working stiff gets shafted. Trump is the anti-governmental force that may at least slow the drain of jobs. Wish him good luck of you found this story upsetting.
5
“Everybody’s fighting him,” she said. Shannon's attitude towards Trump is typical of his base that he caters to.
7
My heart bleeds for this strong,hard working woman with a heart of gold. This is the type of person that greedy corporations in concert with our own elected representatives threw under the bus.Ms. Mulcahy is not an anomaly but rather the norm. The American worker is hard working,hard scrabble,loyal and kind. That is why our country is so rich. Is it too much to ask that some of that vast wealth be shared with the workers whose labor made it all possible by giving them decent wages , a few benefits and reasonable employment security?
14
Comments seem to have missed that the CEO made $$40 million in 3y based on the excellent hard work and high quality products produced by American UNION workers like Shannon. This disproportionate beyond greedy amount caused not even a blip on NYT 's story radar.
Without the skilled diligent work of trained workers who make reasonable living wages that include essential healthcare and retirement benefits,Rexnord and other American businesses wouldn't generate the profit they do for detached shareholders.
The gutting of Unions by Republicans has stolen Americans bargaining power and voice in manufacturing and tech businesses leaving them with lower wages and fewer and fewer benefits. And as the upper echelon received millions the actual workers producing the products that made $$, receive less.
Where once Solidarity of purpose, hard won and fought for in an America of the 1920s and 1930s, brought important Labor Laws with better working conditions and higher wages, now Americans have reverted to the old "every man for himself will succeed on his own" falacy.
The Million and Billioniare Club of primarily Old White Men continue to reap huge profits from the good hard work of Americans but return less and less to the people who make their little earned Wealth. And now Their paid for POTUS lies about "keeping American jobs" in America by blaming immigrants for stealing them.
The cost of education to get the good jobs left in America is far out of reach of those displaced.
12
this is easily one of the best articles i have read in a newspaper - Farah, you rock! this reporting is colorful, fair minded, contextualized with empathy, and it tells a very important story....all the best to you, and don't stop!
11
And I forgot to mention about how Unions helped this country. However, it was the fault of the Unions not to back the Air traffic controllers when they walked out of their job for better working conditions. All American Unions should have dropped their tools and walked out in support of the air traffic controllers. Again, the Rep. killed the unions and it hurt the middle-class. They middle-class has themselves to blame for their stupidity.
6
Thanks for exposing your readers to this ongoing reality in our country. Now it occurs to me that this guy making $40,000,000 dollars is paid way too much,and I am sure we could find a Mexican engineer,manager equally qualified to do it for $5,000,000. No matter how special this guy is he is definitely overpaid.
19
President Trump, whose America are you making great again - the CEO's, shareholders, or the workers?
7
This is a strong woman who has my respect. Lots of bad decisions in her personal life but a rock in her work life and a woman who loves her children and granddaughter.Those of us who grew up in families who expected us to do well in school and go to college have been lucky. Her daughter is fortunate she ended up with her grandmother who held high expectations for her. Her daughter also appreciates the strength of her mother. I feel for her son and granddaughter. I expect Trump will try to pull away the medical support provided for the grandaughter via gutting Medicaid.
10
This is the failure of capitalism. It funnels profits from the company to people disconnected from the place where they were made. Without restraints it exacerbates the tyranny of the 1%. It's easy to to hurt people you don't know - our collapse of community, in it's many forms, is what makes this possible.
In ten years the Times will be doing a similar story about a doctor that is losing his practice to one in India where the doctor reads the results on a screen halfway around the world for a fraction of the price. The cost to us will not be cheaper either. Electronic doctors will be sold to us just like ATM's - easy, no appointments, free even. Once we're dependent they'll cost us dearly.
10
It isn't just people lacking college degrees. It is those of us who have achieved a level of income and position that now gets offshored to a person with no experience who is willing to work for pennies on the dollar of what we were compensated. Corporations have two sets of standards. The offshore standard declares the new foreign employee is "the brightest and the best"; the US worker is discarded as unqualified, over-compensated and not "certified".
9
The article makes these folks appear strong and compassionate, accepting their fate and moving on with optimism. It ain't so. Hundreds of thousands like Shannon and her co-workers are frustrated and angry...and they all voted for Donald Trump and will again in 2020. If you don't why, after reading this piece, you are living an illusory life. Build the wall!
3
There is not enough sympathy for American workers who have lost their jobs to offshoring from upper-middle class liberals. Hopefully articles such as this one will help to change that.
6
What hogwash. It is the educated liberals who understand what us going on for the last 30 years who are the ones willing to increase their own taxes to support policies to change this scenario. But it requires individuals like Shannon to become politically active and vote. And to vote every election, primary and general, every year, year in and year out. She and individuals have no voice precisely because she does not vote, she does not call her representatives, because she does not write her representatives from her neighborhood group if there is one, loca town,city, county, township, state and national. Those are activities she can do and has control over. Combine her effort with other people. Yes, it is work, and takes time, but being a citizen of the country founded on the political philosophy the government for the people and by the people has always demanded such obligation. And it is a right that every American citizen should seize because hundreds of thousands have died for you to have those rights. The working class used to be the most politically active class in the United States..it is thanks to that class that we have the few labor laws that we do. Apparently, we have failed the Shannon's by not teaching them their own working class history.
3
Yes isn't it wonderful that we have created all these new jobs. Just stay focused on the new job creation. Too bad these new jobs were created somewhere else, mostly on the west coast and Northeast. But, hey, according to the Democratic Congressmen, all that is important is new job creation, why are you focusing on jobs lost? We just ignore those. Forget the unfortunates.
Could it be possible why Clinton lost Pennsylvania? Michigan? Wisconsin? Herein is the problem which economists fail to recognize, they concentrate only on the success and forget the failures. Our politicians also love to only blather on about the winners in our society and forget about those who have lost out. Somehow, both believe, that eventually all will return. No it won't. We live in Darwin world, winners live and losers die. Yes, evolution applies to the economic world just like it applies our real world out there.
2
The year 1982, the mighty Bethlehem Steel Corp. announces a few days before Christmas it will be closing one of it's largest facilities in Upstate NY just outside Buffalo, NY. With foreign steel lying on the docks of Lake Erie a half mile from the plant, management struggled to renovate and reduce unprofitable operations. At one meeting with union members, a company VP came to discuss the situation and asked "what kind of business Bethlehem was in". A look of wonderment from the workers gather there; the response was "steel of course". His quick response was "NO, Bethlehem was in the money making business and right now Bethlehem was not making money".
Far too many thought it was a ploy by the company to reduce their wages. A company that was in operation for 80 plus years would not just shut down.
My assumption at the time was the plant would close, all 12,000 workers would eventually lose their jobs and it was time to revisit my thinking about being a steelworker until I retired. A year later with 30 years seniority I was no longer a steelworker.
Soon I joined my three children who were in college, got into a two year culinary school and after graduating started a new career that lasted another 30 years.
Reading about Ms. Shannon's situation could not help to think of the situation the workers at Bethlehem faced 34 years ago. Some took the challenge to reinvent themselves, others waited for the plant to reopen. Listening to the promises donald made I just laughed.
10
Shannon, if you are reading this, and if there is any way you can do it, yes, go to nursing school.
As a nursing faculty member, I see, in the photos, this woman's expert psychomotor skills, changing her granddaughter's trach tube. I see her compassion coming through in her words.
This country is facing a retirement boom in nursing. The average age of a nurse is over 50. The demand is only going to increase.
And, as for the boys, the men, take yourselves to nursing school, too!
14
An eye-opening article that suggests a number of follow-up pieces:
1) The Mexican workers don't seem to realize that they're displacing American jobs, and that their salaries are so much lower than the American workers they're displacing. Is this universally true? And what broader conclusions can be drawn from it?
2) From this article, it appears that moving the factory took longer and was more expensive than anticipated, and that the quality of the bearings will suffer, at least in the short term. It would be good to have a story on whether this was indeed true and to what degree. I imagine it would be an investigative story, as they're unlikely to get any cooperation from Rexnord.
9
Our world is changing and change hurts. Even so, there are many things that could be done, there must always be hope. Individual greed on part of CEO's and investors could be curbed. Individuals could save more and should be encouraged to continue training and education and to forego having children they cannot afford or habits they cannot afford. I admire Shannon and her work ethic greatly and feel for those like her who have been left behind and are being left behind by globalization. Our government should do all it can to encourage companies and corporations to do good for its workers and Young people to go into fields that provide living wages. If only it weren't all about big $$.
4
I just wonder, if Mr. Adams, who made 40 million over 6 years was taxed at 90% on income over a million dollars a year, would he have the impetus to earn so much?
How would that have affected the company and the salaries of the workers?
11
Since capitalism has no social contract and is anti-society, you would hope that government would help. If education and healthcare were covered, and a livable wage paid, the good people profiled herein seemed happy to accommodate the ripping changes that come along.
5
I know I am going to lambasted, but I am baffled- she doesn't vote. I don't understand the hangwringing or how she is inspiring- she doesn't vote. She didn't elect anyone, including DT. To me, this simple detail explains a lot. Don't like how things are- go vote. Anything else is just an excuse for the status quo.
21
This woman did not vote.
But her grandchild is living off Medicaid support provided by democrats. And if this child collects disability after 18, she can thank democrats.
After losing her job, she still has those cigarettes in her hand. She's going to need health care. Democrats offered help for that.
But for some reason she found Trump's empty rhetoric on jobs reassuring.
92
It will soon be my story and yours unless all of us stand up together and demand what we, as human beings, deserve. Aa far as I know, citizens of USA are not divided and we are not against immigrants. Americans are one of the most welcoming and considerate people in the world, and we will act upon unreasonable unfairness, when we do, we produce results. I believe this about USA. Elite politicians or mega corporations don't represent us.
5
Of course Shannon can retrain as a nurse. I did, graduating at age 55 from Emory University’s nursing school in 2015, with the help of loans, retirement savings, and scholarships. I quickly found full-time work in a hospital. As a RN with not much experience, I earn $60,000 plus about $10,000 in overtime (could be more OT, but that’s enough work for me), and good benefits. Just putting it out there that this is a good option, that can work. And yes, I was scared to retool in middle age, in a very unfamiliar field (I had been a reporter), with other students half my age. But the very minute that Emory cashed that first tuition check from me was the very minute that I knew that I would have to make this work. And it did.
14
A well written article that puts a human face on a major issue. The article does seem to paint a very negative picture of businesses. The fact is that labor and its associated costs are the largest expense for most businesses. When competitors offshore or automate a company must either compete by controlling costs or go under. That is the reality. Governments can try to legislate away options for managers or put tariffs and taxes on offshore activities. Usually all that does is to destroy industries and weaken the economy overall. It is notable that some workers cited the article (mainly black ones) saw this as a opportunity to better themselves rather than being victimized by the realities of business. I am sad for the displaced workers. They are paying the price of progress. Overall things are good, unemployment is near zero and the economy is strong in spite of Trump’s efforts to wreck it. If Trump were a real man he would use the respect that these displaced rust belt workers have for him to tell them the truth. Those jobs are gone, we are well rid of them too -dirty, dangerous work that can be done better by machines in most cases. You need to accept the new reality and take advantage of retraining and the fluidity of the US on market rather than being bitter and hateful. Sadly he will not do that. He will continue to lie to these folks and have rallies where he promises to restore the days of the Dickensian factory.
4
I worked for a European company that went bankrupt. The European employees received two years of tuition reimbursement with a stipend to cover living expenses while they were in school. Their healthcare was free, of course, and never in jeopardy.
The Americans? We got a nice dinner and a few weeks' severance pay.
16
If you are lucky.
4
The first pace a company lays off workers is the United States, because it is one of the easiest places to lay off workers.
3
Anyone still believe in free trade after reading this article?
Cheaper parts for consumers.
Better returns for investors.
All for the price of a devastated community.
How about slapping a 35% tax on imports and make America great again?
7
While I would agree with most of what you said, I do take issue with the statement about free trade, and for the investors benefit. I'm an average American worker, I'm 50 years old, when I was a broker in training when I was in my mid 20s, I worked for the State of Alaska. I wanted to be a broker.
The first thing I learned was, if you have a 401K 403B, or any retirement account where money is taken from you and invested, via a "group plan" the brokerage firm that manages your account invests in ETFs, just look at your 401 403 retirement accounts and see what you're invested in. You receive dividends from those companies, as a result that makes you, an investor.
Free trade doesn't mean giving away jobs, the problem is, government represents business interests, not yours, not mine, Trump is the ugly face of what our government really is, has been for decades. Moving jobs isn't a trade issue, it's lower wages, less regulation, no healthcare expenses, no retirement programs to manage, though your employer benefits from the money in your retirement. Less overhead, translates to larger and larger profits, and a large part of that money is put offshore waiting for a friendly president to repatriate their 1.8tn, that's the real issue. Citigroup, wrote an internal memo, about the plutocracy is business is building, suppressing wages is part of that process. Companies outsource assembly work, and import high tech labor using the H-1B visa program. That's the issue
3
Economics is a harsh taskmaster. With the high cost of living, and therefore the high cost of production, America is no longer competitive in manufacturing. That's not going to change any time soon, and those jobs aren't coming back, no matter what Trump bellows. After all, who is going to buy a bearing if it costs four times what a foreign-made product costs? If you can't sell it, why make it? The math isn't going to adapt to the political climate.
What we have failed to do as a country is anticipate the movement of manufacturing jobs to Mexico, China and other low-wage countries. The only solution is to train these people so that they have the skills for jobs that won't be moving off shore. These people need financial assistance to make the transition. We either provide the necessary funds to move the labor force into fields that have a future, or we'll have an angry, disaffected population that will respond to phony populism and false promises. That's a recipe for social disintegration. Does anyone really think Trump understands this, much less cares about it?
8
Another factor is the shift from defined benefit retirement plans that corporations used to provide for their employees. Many of us are dependent on 401K and IRA's and so are part of the problem of stockholder demands for increased profitability at the expense of adequate living wages for so many. Of course, the ridiculous & unjustified inflation in the chunk passed along to CEOs and Wall Street banksters is a change that has happened in the last 40 years, too.
10
For 15 years, at least, multiple companies in the Silicon Valley have been doing the same to its high tech workers. They make locals train their replacements in India or China and then lay off the local workers. Similar to the case described in the article, it has been roughly $80/h vs. $20/h or less. Don't believe lies that outsourcing happened because of the tax policies. It happened because of the huge differences in labor cost. It's worth remembering that the sole purpose of the existence of a corporation is to benefit its shareholder. The outsourcing is bad for the locals but good for executives and shareholders. What are you going to do about it?
14
The biggest driver is greed. In 1965, the CEO to worker compensation was 20.0. Today, that same ratio is close to 300.0. In past decades, workers were often shareholders in the company for whom they worked. And our skewed tax laws do not tax individuals making millions or billions at a fair rate, relative to the rest of us. Finally, our tax laws favor short term over long term investments for businesses. The bottom line is that paying people peanuts means that consumers (and we are a consumption economy) will not be able to afford many goods. The goods that are affordable to many must there be manufactured in countries where the laborers receive pennies for their work. The system is not sustainable.
3
Wow. Such a sad story. So well written. With the words and with the photos it seemed like watching a movie. I hope Farah Stockman wins an award.
9
I don't feel sorry for Shannon because I doubt she would want me to feel sorry for her. Her life is a testament to staying committed, staying the course and making it happen. Her daughter will succeed, her son succeeds daily in his commitment to his own daughter. What I do feel super comfortable doing is praying that the world will offer her a next, better opportunity that she can leap into and own. She has earned and deserves a world and wealth of opportunity. The only thing that can hold her back is a self-limiting belief, and she doesn't seem to have much holding her back there. If karma really is a bank with resources, she is due for a big, big payout. She is a great example of a lady getting it done, and I wish I knew her personally.
7
I feel for you Shannon and for all of your co-workers.
That's what heartless capitalism does. Maybe we should adopt a more humane form of capitalism. Maybe we should also teach a different business model in our business schools. One that is not totally based on maximizing the wealth of shareholders, but one that takes into consideration the welfare of other stakeholders like the workers, the suppliers, the customers and the rest of them. Our country will offer you other opportunities and you will do well.
10
What a lovely, brave woman. And the reporting was superb. The descriptions were vivid enough, and the voices so well-captured, that this could easily be transformed into a compelling movie.
13
This article should be seen as a companion piece to the article about the "reddification" of Iowa . Tom Vilsack, the former Secretary of Agriculture in the Obama administration, noted that the voting behavior of the college educated versus the high school educated is driving many of the state political shifts that we see. But there is also growing resentment in both parties. Vilsack believes that the path back is to counter the Republican mantra that the federal government doesn't work, and instead convey that the government is part of the solution and that it can be part of the engine for economic growth. There are many Shannons in this country. We may not be able to change things that have already happened, but we can use policies that favor long term investment over short term profits. The problem of corporations searching for the cheapest labor is not only an American problem, but is affecting other developed nations. We can create laws and policy on an international level, in coordination with other countries, both rich and poor. Finally, we can help these workers with a Medicare for all plan, job readiness and training, and a plan to subsidize those who are simply too old to retrain (55+) with government funded jobs, similar to the WPA during the depression. Jobs not only provide income, they provide a purpose.
10
I used to fly to St. Louis every Monday and come back every Friday for a consulting job. It was good work from a company from which I had retired.
I noticed an older guy always picked me up and dropped me off for National Car Rental, always offered to help me with my bag. I never let him, because it was too heavy, but I always tipped him for the ride and the conversation. Smart guy.
One day, I asked him his story. This is what he told me.
He was the senior foreman for a major steel company, after fifty years he retired, with a $60K pension, medical insurance and social security. About a year later he got a call that the factory was moving to China and did he want to make some money training and disassembling the factory? He said no, he was enjoying his retirement.
Next call he gets is one about a 'benefits adjustment'. Evidently the company is not doing so well so they're dropping his pension to $30K. Then comes phone call about the loss of his medical insurance, always looking on the bright side he says "Hey, I've got Medicare, no problem".
Then the bottom drops out, the company having moved all of its assets offshore, files for bankruptcy, so after working for fifty years he gets nothing.
So he lands this job driving the rental car bus to and from the airport five days a week for minimum plus $2, because he had a CDL from driving a truck when he started at the steel plant.
How many millions of workers has this happened to and where do they fit in the new economy?
155
The executives of that steel company are traitors to the United States.
9
As are most 'executives' of companies.
6
All of us in the Midwest know someone like that. My friend retired from an airline that stripped her of her pension in the airline's bankruptcy and the Dems lifted not a finger to help. She has no husband, no kids, no money and no life.
1
Several years ago I went to a Spa in a spot in Mexico. It turned out to be a semi Jewish majority spa, lovely place. On the way down to the Spa from Mexico City we had to go thru the industrial town of Toluca. Wow! what an eye opener. Filthy, smelly, dirty every thing that was prohibited in the United States because of pollution regulations were evident. This spot and this town was the pride and joy of one of the Ford plants that made trucks and cars. Why Mexico, because there are no union workers and the pay is much lower in Mexico plus no EPA regulations. The Mexican workers get much less then American union auto workers get and the products are are just fine. That my dear American consumers is the reason for off shore or off country manufacturing. Americans want "cheap", so this is the price you pay. Load up on your credit cards Americans, that's what we spoiled Americans have today, "Big" credit bills. Enjoy your toys.
11
Actually, Mexico has good environmental laws......on the books that is. They don't enforce them, and their government is corrupt at all levels. There should be an environmental tariff placed on to those goids, there should be a child l a boring tariff placed on goods being imported from countries t g at don't enforce child labor laws, etc.
I found this story incredibly sad. I can remember when people in this country took pride in their work, as Shannon does. I can remember when goods made in this country lasted for decades, rather than months. What these companies have done to our citizens sense of pride, sense of trust, sense of shared purpose is truly a crying shame.
63
one can only shudder at the thought that when America's working class finally realize that orange man is a liar, who sold them a bill of goods, where they will take out their anger and frustration to?
10
These are some of those white blue collar workers that many of the readers of the paper of record were saying the had no empathy for not long ago. When you supported illegal immigration over union jobs for legal American workers, you helped support the disenfranchisement of these people. When you lacked empathy, you didn't just lack empathy for awful racists, you lacked empathy for these people. This is why Dems (of which I counted myself one until recently) lost the election. That blustering loudmouth in the Oval Office was the only one speaking to the needs of these people. This is why I am now a man without a party.
8
Completely agree and am also without a party for the same reason. Also, I notice none the readers who comment adoringly on Charles Blow's columns have anything to say about this article. Why is that, I wonder?
3
You are in error. The jobs were not going to "illegal immigrants"- they were going to citizens of Mexico, in Mexico -- at least half of the jobs, the other half were going to Texas. Having scorn for Trump voters does not mean there is no empathy for their circumstances, but seeing them suffer under Trump's policies? They asked for that. They voted for it. They told me they lived to bathe in liberal tears, that I am a snowflake and need to toughen up. They will bear the brunt of reduced environmental protections, reduced or eliminated healthcare assistance, the increased food prices, taxes and their children lost to war as will I because they voted for it.
3
I'm afraid it is, in fact both of those factors at work here. Globalization and support for same has allowed the shifting of jobs outside of the states in large measure, but support for non-legal immigration undercuts them here at home, in manufacturing, in construction, and in numerous other fields. It sounds to me that you're willing to write off an entire class of people due to your personal slights. That isn't just schadenfreude--it's callousness. American liberals need to choose--prioritize poor Americans, or poor foreigners (many of whom yes, are still good, decent people). It cannot be had both ways. It's clear to me which you've chosen.
1
“They have the money. They just don’t want to give it to you.”
This is the thesis statement of this story—and thousands of other stories just like it.
28
There is a Santa Claus! The New York Times actually printed an article detailing the plight of the 67% of Americans without a four year degree!! Maybe if the writers had explored the lives of this segment (remember67%) during the presidential campaign they would have seen Trump coming!!! So much to say, but a few things come to mind. NEVER would Hillary Clinton have been elected because she didn't understand the problem and her policies were not directed toward fixing the problems and her husband helped create the problems. Obama was too cowardly to confront the elitists. Not a banker was punished nor was there an effort to lower healthcare costs to something near what other 1st world countries pay. Lastly, this did not happen in many other countries like Germany. It happened because our recent leaders, all of them, are for sale to the elites. For $400,000.00 you could get a 25 minute speech and one question answered from Obama as Cantor Fitzgerald just found out.
12
Trump and his administration are profiteering even as I write this. Just wait and see how Trump tries to parlay his government "service" into real money when he gets out...
1
This is Capitalism. Shannon loses her job because there is a cheaper way of doing it. Period. Any other calculus, and the company will fold or be crushed by a more profitable entity.
The Mexican workers will eventually lose their livelihoods too. Ultimately ball bearing manufacturing will be automated. And machines will tend to machines like "Tocco."
Should human beings labor at jobs that machines can do?
To me, Shannon's caring for her granddaughter is the kind of work that has inherent value. It doesn't pay, but does it not mean something?
Oh but this is the kind of treacly pseudo-socialist nonsense a bleeding heart lib might speculate on, as he sips his latte and leans back in his ergonomic office chair... a chair - incidentally - made in China.
Meanwhile, gotta go check my portfolio.
2
My Dad was witness to the "Great Textile Migration" from the Northeast to the South. He was told to make trips to Georgia and South Carolina to help the setup of machinery that was to be disassembled in Connecticut and reassembled in their new home. Carpets were to made in the South where there were no unions and the work force was grateful to have a job that paid way less than their Northern workers.
The building that had provided jobs remained empty for years. And the region, after suffering several similar "relocations" has been in decline ever since.
My Dad was fortunate enough to be offered a "transfer" along with a few other core employees. He moved to SC and his fellow transferees lived in a bubble of Yankee culture - rarely accepted by the new community.
Companies that relocate should be legally required to maintain a social contract with their communities and employees. There ought to be a law that some of those corporate profits boosted by cheaper labor provide more than a small severance pay to those left behind.
After decades of loyalty to the company, Dad retired. He was informed that the conglomerate that had purchased the firm was not honoring his retirement pension. The Federal Guarantee jumped in and he had to live on about one half of what was promised.
I believe that's when my interest in socialism was ignited.
85
And yet a central tenet of the GOP, whom so many of these workers now support, is that there should be less supervision by government, fewer social networks, and more unbridled capitalism.
12
[[In her yard, three dead cars and two dead trucks awaited resurrection. In the garage, her boyfriend, Larry Borer, cussed out an engine. Pit bulls barked in their pen.]]
Also, get rid of the dogs. More mouths to feed.
All the people living in that home were offered a free public education through high school and only one person actually took advantage of it. There remain advantages to living in the United States even if poor.
Where are you, Donald Trump? Don't forget your pledge of making America Great again by saving the jobs like these.
4
So many thoughts and emotions on this piece, its hard to decide where to start. There is the part of me that has empathy, sadness, and shared anxiety of her situation, and the horrific cycle of domestic abuse. The stress of a medical emergency in the family, children also elicit empathy and emotions.
Yet, the startling lack of foresight into workface trends and lets be honest, white entitlement mindset, could have simply been cured by reading quality papers and books, for example, The New York Times. At a minimum, read to get a basic gist to see where are going.
Having your self esteemed raised by being able to buy Heinz ketchup is simply laughable and absurd, yet a critical insight to the mind of these voters and laborers. Not to mention the soft nepotism hinted throughout the article which contradicts 'hard working' slogan thrown around so casually.
Look, we have to have empathy. I get this. However this Middle American/Rust Belt way of life, now bordering on sympathetic entitlement has to aggressively tackled with education, like how the daughter Nicole did it.
Also I am going to say it right here: Blacks and other minorities have been going through this for decades, but now its a problem that middle-America is getting ravaged. The decades casual racism, condescending bootstrap talk, and frankly racist voting patterns are coming home to roost.
I am very schizophrenic on this piece. It elicits empathy and just desserts all in one.
15
Ive been reading and watching stories about how factory workers needed to re-train for 30 years! This is not a surprise...
4
Well, that's capitalism. To the people who own Rexnord, and more generally to the people who own the country, Sharon Mulcahy and people like her are no more than replaceable units of labor and gullible customers, worth no more than someone who will do what she does for less money, whether they're in Mexico or Texas.
4
I've read no better language that describes how the current president was elected:
"Some white men complained that they’d watched their economic prospects decline for decades. They had shared their jobs with black men, then with women. Now that blacks and women were welcomed in every facet of factory life, the jobs were moving to Mexico. It seemed like proof that their best days were behind them."
..and we all now know what that view wrought.
13
How about fighting for real "created equal with life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" for all Americans, instead of 57% of US wealth being owned by the wealthies 5% and 50% of Americans getting by on 2.8% of America's wealth?
Let's hear it for capitaism...
4
The article also holds one potential solution to the problem. Empowering employees to becoming unionized shareholders and have a say. That decades ago employees held close to 40% shares where now it's the middle man anonymized those holdings through mutual and pension funds.Corportations easily understand shareholder votes and language.Implementation could be simple. Perhaps people might be more open to investing collectively I stocks rather than union dues and those numbers add up quickly over decades and among all employees put together.
While the dollar as a reserve currency has served great so far that has also prevented it from adjusting value over time. Infinite outsourcing, importing , debt can't sustain. And inflation gets exported all the while.
The article was very well written and very transporting . The solutions are present and here. Oh by the way half the jobs to McAllen Texas and not one mention of it.
27
Just wait for the next industrial revolution- AI and robotics.
The service sector will be hit hard.
3
Thank you for a great article! Can we somehow donate money to Shannon to help her through tough times until she gets a job?
3
A great way to donate to Shannon would be by taxing the .1% who make their money off the backs of the working class.
1
Farah Stockman, I hope you get a Pulitzer for this story. After reading about the catastrophic situation of Shannon and her family, I feeling thoroughly ashamed at having ever complained about my own.
9
Thank you NYT for putting this excellent piece of journalism in front of your readers. NYT at its best!
3
3 words: guaranteed national income.
4
"Long ago, 40 percent of Link-Belt’s stock was owned by its employees, according to a company document from 1925. Back then, business schools taught that a chief executive’s role was to balance shareholders’ interests with those of employees, customers and the government."
It's Trump's fault..it's the Republicans...it's the Democrats too...it's globalization.....but NO--it's the above paragraph, neatly tucked into the middle of this piece which tells the story, clearly and succinctly.
1) The shift from balancing shareholder, consumer and worker interests to 100% shareholder interest. THAT is why our manufacturing sector has been hollowed out. This change has occurred not only at board meetings, but at every prestigious business school. This is how we now "do business".
2) There is an antidote; at very least a partial answer: worker ownership ("Long ago, 40 percent of Link-Belt’s stock was owned by its employees"). Not likely to find favor with Trump, or the GOP, nor with globalization advocates (who will always assert that globalization is "inevitable").
Worker ownership smells suspiciously of socialism, and we can't have that. Socialism is a slippery slope which could lead to all sorts of unseemly consequences...universal health care, mitigation of poverty and social ills, more equitable distribution of wealth......
This is America--liberty!--and we're not having it.
11
My heart goes out to you, Shannon. But like the thoughts and prayers so often expressed by Democrats and Republicans for the American people, what you need is a return on the value you have created.
That return has gone to your CEO's obscene $40 million salary, stolen from the labors of you and your co-workers.
Equity would in part come if his taxes were raised to the level levied in other industrialized countries like Canada and Sweden, and used like theirs to support single-payer healthcare and college tuition for all.
It's time for our political parties to offer an FDR-like choice that Americans could see as more than the lesser of two evils.
In the meantime, congratulations to Nicole. You must be so proud of her.
Please take advantage of every opportunity that is offered. It is clear you will succeed.
13
Shannon, there is one simple truth you can believe in - past behavior predicts future behavior. Your past behavior tells the universe that you're tough, resourceful and capable of complex demanding work in a tough environment. You will create the situation where work will find you. Hat's off to you.
7
Hope publicity from the article helps her get her next job. She sounds like a good person to have on a team.
5
Don't hate the player, hate the game. We live in a capitalistic society in case everyone forgot. Grow, adapt and thrive or get out of the game. No one owes anyone anything.
You make it sound so easy. Why haven't the losers figured this out?
Capitalism isn't going to be dismantled any time soon, but we could start with a more robust industrial policy, like our peer economies do.
2
Shannon, I only wish the best for you and your family.
2
Sorry to say this article also speaks to how families and choices affect outcomes. Drop of out school, have a kid in your teens, look for a savior and end up with a abusive drunk husband. Soon your own kid is a teen parent with and repeats the cycle.
On the other hand, Nicole stayed in school and worked hard. Now she's going to a great university for free. A new world is opening up for her. She'll succeed and make sure her kids get an education and a new cycle has begun.
4
A well written article. So much of a life is tied to gainful employment; financial security, role model for children, social network and status. But you know what is funny? I don't remember seeing a similar sympathetic article on jobs lost in the coal industry due to Obamacare-era regulations. I guess outsourcing to Mexico is bad but outsourcing due to government regulatory power is, to steal a phrase, business as usual.
2
Please don't perpetuate the myth that Obama (not "Obamacare"?) was responsible for the decline of the coal industry. Natural gas is more competitively priced and alternative energy deserves a chance.
I do mourn the economic collapse seen in coal country, and the impacts to communities, families and individuals. But let's not pretend that coal mining hasn't extracted a tremendous toll on miners and on the environment.
6
This article is a tribute to journalism and a free press. Well done! Balanced and factual allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions. The problem isn’t the Mexicans though the President not only scapegoats them but gives false hope to our factory workers. The problem is the CEO focus on shareholders without regard to social consequences. Sad.
13
The New York Times sould continue to write pieces like this; showing the real economic uncertainty that many Americans face. My mother is a college-educated computer programmer from a top US university; after working at American Express in downtown Manhattan for nearly a decade, she was notifed that her entire department was being outsourced to India and had to train her replacements; the anger, stress, and uncertainty she faced during that time is reflected in the themes in this piece. Luckily she was resourceful enough that she landed a job at a Medicaid managed care company...however, the fact that healthcare is now 1/6 of US GDP and growing while other industries are being driven out of the country should give US policymakers some pause. The best paying jobs are now in healthcare...why? Why is it that the protagonist and her daughter in this piece are choosing to pursue careers in nursing? The majority of the revenue at many hospitals comes from Medicare and Medicaid, which are paid for by the ever-increasing US debt; government spending in healthcare at the expense of real investments in the economy and education that could spur real economic growth and opportunity causes me great concern.
9
Alyssa, as a long time blue collar worker your photographs exemplified that reality with excellent perspective.
6
Now we begin to see and understand why people gambled on Trump. For decades neither party protected American workers. Or cared about them. Jobs were sent abroad and, millions of new workers immigrated in to the country to make it even tougher for American workers. Trump spoke to these people, even if it was a lot of garbage. At least he pretended to care. That's how desperate American workers are.
10
This is a heartbreaking story that makes me thankful for having been fired off factory jobs when I was young, which forced me to complete my university education that led to a professional career.
2
Great article. Ms. Mulcahy is smart, courageous, decent, generous. She is losing a job that means a lot to her and facing an uncertain future but yet she has no venom in her soul and is trying to stay positive. You go girl.
5
She didn't vote. She considered all politicans to be liars. She was stirred by Trump's talk of jobs vs. the Democrat's talk of safety net (she wanted a job -- good for her). But. nonetheless, she still didn't vote. In any case, Trump let her down. (Another liar.).
THE lesson: The populace has to pursue their interests, economic and otherwise, e.g., health care for her and her family, especially for her impaired 4 year old granddaughter, with the same laser targeted focus (and not get distracted by marginal interests) with which the wealthy pursue their $ interests: getting informed, advocating, voting and holding politico accountable.
3
If there were more public options for covering the costs of education, Nicole wouldn't have had to wait in suspense to see who in her class was going to be selected for support from wealthy benefactors. If health insurance was a public benefit, instead of being tied to a job, there would be one thing she wouldn't have to worry about. If we were vigorously promoting a new, environmentally sound power grid and infrastructure, there would be a lot of new jobs in the area. All these things are possible, but unfortunately, we don't seem to be moving in that direction.
10
This story is shared by many in the manufacturing industry. Pride is a good feeling because it brings you satisfaction that your work contributes to society in more ways than one can imagine. There is something to be said for building things with one's hands. Yet, the truth is it was a good idea to take away manufacturing jobs when the industry were polluters of the worst kind, intentional polluters. These industries were well aware of what contaminants they were dumping into our environment. Today we have technology to minimize that pollution but also robots to do the work. Our leaders never wanted to tell these workers what was coming, technology, greedy shareholders and corporations that had to compete globally. Corporations have no loyalty. The false loyalty they created was the big lie. Manufacturing jobs are not returning, we do not want to end up like China walking around with masks and children not growing up. Corporations are unwilling to be environmentally friendly until people throughout the globe decide they do not want pollution. What should have happened was to aide displaced workers instead we have the horrible situation of today. The blame lies squarely with our leaders who make the laws and rules. We should band together before these same leaders take us to a place no one wants, survival mode.
26
A great read. Life and change is very, very hard. I hope Shannon gets new job, better than her last one.
One lesson for living in the future: if you want to live a better life than your parents, get a better education. Shannon’s daughter is.
5
No one should be surprised that workers without a high-school diploma find few opportunities for rewarding employment in 2017. What is shocking is that so many who find themselves in this situation vote against their economic self-interest, i.e. for Trump, and for Republican candidates at all levels of government (or did not bother to vote at all). They have voted for Republican tax cuts so the Rexnord CEO can keep more of his bonus; for tax cuts at the state level resulting in lower-quality schools and education, and reduction in or elimination of job-training programs; for the destruction of Obamacare and the resulting reduction in care for children like Carmella, and the lack of job mobility in the US economy that results when so many workers are entirely reliant on their employers for health insurance. As Trump has proved its always easy to blame the foreigner but global trade is not going away (at least your Walmart shoppers better hope not). Other Western countries manage to compete, and its difficult to imagine that the US cannot. But if conditions are to improve for workers such as Shannon they are going to have to become proactive in their own future not only economically but particularly politically. And given that the US has no limits on corporate political donations corrupting your democracy the political deck is stacked against them.
12
The irony emerging from this story is that the "business decision" at the root of all the sorrow is not even a good business decision. Three features of this beautifully written piece are in evidence: the fact that the factory survived in the U.S. as long as it did, the fact that quality control requires a microscope, and, critically, the notion that bearings are "anonymous". High quality bearings are indeed anonymous. Low quality bearings, "paste", scream their names at inopportune times. There is a "right time" to harvest soybeans. When that time comes, a crew will work around the clock to git 'er done. A combine disabled by seized bearings will cost a farmer thousands of dollars in emergency repairs, and in lost crop value. A seized escalator in a luxury store may foul the mood of a shopper in search of a $3000 hand bag. Seized bearings on a nuclear submarine?
A disgruntled farmer isn't going to complain to Rexnord. He's going to complain to his John Deere dealer, wondering why he spent $600,000 for a combine that won't go. Folks at John Deere are going to wonder why they're still paying Link-Belt prices for "paste", and are going to find another high quality supplier. Once that happens, Rexnord won't ever recover the high quality sector of the bearing market - too many bad stories out there.
If I had RXN shares, I'd dump 'em. If I was a little more facile at that sort of thing, I'd short-sell RXN. Nothing personal, you understand. Just business.
20
The notion that the destructive hallowing out of communities due to capital flight is an "opportunity" for a worker to "reinvent" themselves is glibe. Even if an unemployed 50-something could get the education or credentials for a new occupation, there just aren't enough jobs that pay a living wage. The decline of the labor movement has devastated large parts of this country. There's plenty of blame to go around for this, including Democratic politicians like Bill Clinton.
6
I wish all Democrats (and all people) read this article. The crux of our problem, no different from that of Europeans, is how to help people transition from jobs that cannot be sustained in the US due to foreign competition. We cannot stop free trade but we can develop better public policy for the New Economy. That may include: 1. Vigorous enforcement of trade rules and pursuit of balanced trade (i.e. fair access to overseas markets, an end to IP theft, state subsidies and other impediments for US firms; and relentless focus on achieving balance of imports/exports with each country), 2. Meaningful retraining programs (free) to those dislocated, and 3. Apprenticeships and other jobs made available to guarantee comparable pay for those displaced. Democrats would be wise to formulate policies like this.
5
Unbelievably great journalism- thank you!
As a college educated worker in a medical device small company, the only way I know my company can survive is to have our product built overseas. This is a new device that will save many lives in the US. Our device currently costs $120 while it's made in CA with high-school educated assemblers and materials, and will eventually cost about $2 from China. We will eventually not need our assemblers when we send manufacturing to China.
At the same time, my company is growing and hiring more college-educated workers. One day, if we are successful, we will be bought out and absorbed by a big corporation, and we will leave to start another small company, and hire American assemblers all over again.
This is happening in CA, and I always wonder if can happen in the "rust belt" - creating new things is something our country is great at, and perhaps this entrepreneurial model is a way forward.
2
OK...I admit it...I cried when Nicole got the scholarship money.
Thanks for an excellent article, and thank you, Shannon, for sharing your story.
Along with several other posters here, I am very interested in hearing about what the future holds for this brave, hard-working and quite "un-deplorable" woman.
12
Economists in this forum; doesn't this build a case against the current financial system? How to reform the system so that profits aren't driven by nameless fund managers working to make the rich richer? Should companies stay private? Should private investors be forced to actually visit the factory floor and meet the workers whose livelihood they hold in their hands?
3
It may be a distinction without a difference, but far to often, it is assumed that the "job" belongs to "her", or "him". In fact the job belongs to the shareholders of a corporation, and is managed by the executives. Any workers making this mistake assumes that they are in control of their destiny vis à vis the job. The only control they have is through their ability to organize into a union, and of course, their vote. It is the height of self-delusion that so many steel workers, coal miners, and other industrial employees played the pivitol role in electing a President, and a Congress, who will invariably erode even this control, remove any social safety net, and leave them in despair. It is very disheartening to me, and it is increasingly difficult to see when and how this may become apparent to them. It may cost us all our very existence as a free nation.
11
Thank you for such an up-close and personal story that is beautifully written. This article provides an invaluable window into the lives of factory workers and the complicated narratives that inform individuals' views political views. For the first time, I completely understood why someone may have cast a ballot for Trump. In the context of Shannon's job, life history, and current life circumstances, her support of a candidate who called out against the closing of her factory - and hence the very foundation of her life- was completely logical. I also appreciate that Shannon realizes the irony and complexity of her choices - collectively all of our choices- to purchase so many items manufactured around the globe. Everything about this piece of journalism is such good food for thought.
3
Once, I had a job that was being offshored. I taught the people who were going to replace me. I didn't hold it against them - everyone has to make a living. But I wound up being unemployed for nearly four years before landing another position. It deeply affected my ability to retire securely. Instead, I'm going to be scraping by in my later years. This isn't what I worked for all my life - to be watching every penny forever because my career was interrupted through no fault of my own.
15