I state this as my opinion.
Examples in our past would be The Brown Shoe Company, General Radiator, The Stove Foundry, come to mind at the moment. All of these viable manufacturing facilities supported a lot of families and their payrolls rolled over into the entire community many times over. All of these fell victim to the competition.
When you go into Walmart, you can be very hard pressed to find things that are made in America. Yet us, the American consumer takes advantage of the competitive edge Walmart provides.
Let me ask, what do you think the status of Ford, GM and Chrysler will be in 5 years?
I have been at CTNA (GT) since the beginning. Within the walls of that facility there are some of the best, most intelligent people I have ever met. Both workers and management. Some of the finest folks, best employees you could ever expect. Yet, our livelyhood is being faced by the same grim reaper every other American factory faces....
It is a global economy. It's not the fault of Walmart.... we support Walmart so well you can't hardly get there or park there! If someone makes a shoe, radiator, stove, automobile of equal quality that is cheaper we will buy it, no mater were it comes from. It is a global economy.
The measures announced last week at CTNA are in response to what it costs to built a tire here. I associate these measures to taking chemo to rid a cancer. You literally hate the medicine, but without it you will die.
This has been a horrible task for CTNA.... for management and employees. Yet in this agony, I applaud the decision. I believe this decision is not only right, but the only decision. If there is a chance to maintain this facility here this is the only path to take.
Put yourself in the position of being a wooden box maker with 100 employees. Someone from China built, shipped and sold the same box a dollar cheaper over here and took your business. What would you do? Stick your head in the sand and hope it would go away??? Cut your quality and hope you could still sell a inferior product??? Or would you cut wages 5-10%, reduce some benifits and invest in improved more efficient machinery????
Which decision provides the longest most secure and viable outcome for it's future, it's employees and the community????