I have just finished writing an article for the daily newspaper I write for about VF Jeanswear, that makes Wrangler jeans, closing five plants in Alabama, employing 2189, 683 of which are in my county. All 2189 of them here are loosing their jobs. This plant has been here since 1948.

They are closing jeans plants employing 4500 nationwide and are shutting down, decreasing operations or trying to sell a bunch of their other stuff including Jansen swim wear plants up north....

The loss of 683jobs in our county is going to be devastating. When I asked the company spokesman in north Carolina if the jobs were going to Mexico, he said that while his company has plants overseas and contracts overseas, some of the positions might be transferred to other plants in the U.S.

This guy, Sam Tucker, VP of Human Resources of VR Jeanswear and based in North Carolina also said: "This year has been a very difficult time for those in the apparel industry. There are major announcements and directive going out from VF all around the country today. This is one of the hardest days I've ever had to work. We hate to mention the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11th but the hopes all of us had for consumer rebounding were dashed that day. Sales have been down and there was a lot of down time in most of the plants. We got to the point where we really had to make some tough decisions. This is not a case where we can shut down plants that haven't been productive./ We're having to shut down plants that were very productive. Plants that have been the backbone of the company. Oneonta (the plant in our county) has certainly been a key to the success of this company."

I also interviewed a guy who has worked for them for more than 36 years and will loose his job eight months before he is elgible to retire. But the ones it will hurt the most are the single mothers and parents of young families.

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), November 14, 2001

Answers

36 years,,, and he isnt even ELGIABLE for retirement?? something is WRONG THERE

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), November 14, 2001.

Gee,

That's pretty rough. Makes me be more thankful I have a job.

-- Rick#7 (rick7@postmark.net), November 14, 2001.

So, are there any jeans manufacturers left in the U.S. now? I've been steadily trying to buy more and more "made in the U.S." goods and would like to buy only U.S. made jeans but don't know of any companies. Wrangler was the only one I knew.

Just in case they still do have plants here I'll exclude Levi Strauss. I won't do business with them.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (live-oak@atlantic.net), November 14, 2001.

remember, this is basically a "sewing factory" so only the top dogs get retirement....

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), November 14, 2001.

Wonder if the plant in Seminole, Ok. will be affected? Hope not. Folks in these parts are already hard pressed for a steady income.

-- Iris (Sar_India@msn.com), November 14, 2001.

Good ol' NAFTA, Perot, was right hear that big sucking sound. Our quality jobs going south.Folks we must demand US made goods. While I pitty the rest of the worlds economic plight, I don't care to join them. Corporate leaders don't care where the money is made it still ends up in thier pockets. The US worker is always the loser.

-- Del Grinolds (dgrinolds@gvtel.com), November 14, 2001.

Heard on the news tonight that a plant here in Oklahoma would be shut. Didn't quit catch the name of the town. Obviously the workers at this plant didn't make much money and I doubt local plant management was paid a kings ransom either.

Who's to blame? Us. Me. You. We all want, demand, the lowest possible prices. And Walmart delivers it. Greed Greed Greed.

Folks, I love America, but we have flat priced ourselves out of the market. Everything is gradually closing up and moving overseas away from America. Let me challenge you to think what it will be like in 20-50 years. How do you think your kids and grandkids will do?

Now, please understand, I have always supported union labor. If a union were offered at my place of work I would join. Not as a blind sheep obeying and believing whatever was told told to me, I expect a union to exist, work and function to serve me, not the other way around. However, to an extent, unions have gone wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too far and priced us out of the market. I believe everybody has the right to a good decent living, but you can't kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Now don't get me wrong, unions are the entire culprit of all of our problems, but they are a part of it. Greed is the root of our problem.

Gene

-- gene ward (gward34847@aol.com), November 14, 2001.

typo correction. fumble fingers today.

I meant to say unions are NOT the entire culprit.

Gene

-- gene ward (gward34847@aol.com), November 14, 2001.

The ONLY way to reverse this trend is to buy American made goods. In Schoharie county our largest employer Guilford Mills (supplier of fabrics for apparel makers) is closing it's doors this month, leaving 550+ local workers unemployed. The closing is due to the competition from overseas.

Unless we see a reversal in the way people purchase items (not driven by price), I don't see this trend ending because "price" is what is driving the market and the cheaper overseas apparel makers are winning, because Americans don't bother or care if the item was made in the USA or elsewhere.

David SunDance Farm

-- David (Schoharie NY) (sundance@midtel.net), November 15, 2001.

Well, I *would* buy U.S. made blue jeans if someone here can tell me who still makes them here?

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (live-oak@atlantic.net), November 15, 2001.

If unions did what they were supposed to, which is to fairly represent their own clientele and truly work towards better working conditions, instead of defending people who should have been fired long ago for attendance, incompetence, whatever, it would be one thing (yes there are incompetents at the top, too). But unions today do all sorts of things beyond their original purpose. I don't believe in "support" strikes, for example, or all of the political lobbying on everything they can throw money at, not to mention mere longevity raises (skill increase raises are fair), etc.

I also think that technology is the future for the American work force. Unions work against that with all their might with archaic work rules. There will always be jobs for those who wish to improve themselves and their skill sets. Dotcommers are being laid off too, but they are not having that much trouble finding work again. This story reminds me of the Billy Joel song "Allentown". People cannot think that any one kind of manufacturing job is going to be around forever. Times change.

People knew years ago that these jobs would go away sometime. How many typewriter repairpeople are in business today? How many of them have specialized in something else now, perhaps computer repair or maybe a niche market in antique typewriters? I'm sure that at least the bigger companies will have to provide some job retraining. I hope these people take advantage of it. If you are a garment worker that means you can sew pretty well. What about opening a tailoring/alterations shop? I used to know a woman who when she liked a blouse but wanted different colors would go and pay to have ten different color ones made. This layoff could be a business opportunity.

Last, on the quality issue, I have had to pay for union-made uniforms in the past, and I was never impressed with the quality. They just did not hold up. We all work hard for our money, union member or not, and I don't believe in supporting shoddy work. This is not to say that every import is top quality, certainly not, but I also think that what people look for is quality AND price, not just price. Why pay $100 for sneakers when $50 will do, or even less if you luck out at a thrift store or garage sale?

Maybe the US should get out of the clothing business except for the designer end of it and concentrate instead on technology, energy production (so we can care about what goes on in the Middle East for the right reasons, not the merely economic ones) and other pursuits.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), November 15, 2001.

For Live Oak: http://www.usstuff.com/jeans.htm

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), November 15, 2001.

The Tommy Hilfiger clothes are made overseas and so are Nike. These are not low priced either, they just have the brand name! I use to think if something is made overseas it was cheaper, but it's not. You are paying for the name!! If we could promote made in USA as they do those products it might help.

-- PJC (zpjc5_@hotmail.com), November 15, 2001.

Joy,

THANK YOU for that URL!

Folks, if you're looking for stuff made in the U.S. check out this URL tha Joy gave.

http://www.usstuff.com/index.h tm

Save a lot of time researching.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (live-oak@atlantic.net), November 15, 2001.

My "Saddle King" jeans are made in the USA (the label says). I don't know anything else about them except that I get them whenever I drive south and hit Utah, and they're cheap, and they fit my wiry frame better than any other jean.

-- Audie (paxtours@alaska.net), November 15, 2001.