On pages fifteen and sixteen of Mollie’s Job, William M. Adler makes a statement that sets the tone for Part I:
Embedded in that core fact, and in the story of the intersecting lives and fates of Mollie and Balbina, is a larger story about fundamental changes in the economy–a story about the demise of unions and the middle class and the concurrent rise of plutocracy; about the disposability of workers and the probability of work; about how government and Wall Street reward U.S.-based companies for closing domestic plants and scouring the globe for the lowest wages in places where human rights and labor rights are ignored; and about the ways in which “free trade” harms democracy, undermines stable businesses and communities, exploits workers …show more content…
After the sale, it was clear to workers that tings in the factory would drastically change for the worse. On June 30th, 1989, those fears were realized: employees worked their last shift and left their Universal Manufacturing Company careers behind. MangeTek closed down the Paterson factory and moved to Matamoros, Mexico, where the labor was cheaper and there was a surplus in the labor force. In Matamoros, Balbina Duque Granados would, during her probationary period, earn sixty-five cents an hour, which equaled about $1,352 a year. Mollie James, while at Universal, made $7.91 an hour, which equaled about $30,000 a year. The problem with this picture? Balbina was working the same exact job as Mollie, and for the same …show more content…
Not only are U.S.-based companies moving south to Mexico, but also moving overseas, and that is mostly due to labor being cheap and labor rights barely existing or upheld. Mollie James moved from Virginia to New Jersey in order to have a steady job; now Americans struggle anywhere they go. Factories close quicker than sound moves and relocate in other countries just so the company can save money (save money on labor, but charge ridiculous prices for the products they produce).
With the way our current economy is functioning, I have a feeling that within the next ten to twenty years, more jobs will either be outsourced or employers will turn to telecommunication. With this belief, it will be insanely more difficult for Americans to get jobs; we may even have to move out of the country to do so. I’m not sure if there’s a way it can be fixed, but I do think companies should be trying to help their home country instead of saving hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of dollars on labor
Embedded in that core fact, and in the story of the intersecting lives and fates of Mollie and Balbina, is a larger story about fundamental changes in the economy–a story about the demise of unions and the middle class and the concurrent rise of plutocracy; about the disposability of workers and the probability of work; about how government and Wall Street reward U.S.-based companies for closing domestic plants and scouring the globe for the lowest wages in places where human rights and labor rights are ignored; and about the ways in which “free trade” harms democracy, undermines stable businesses and communities, exploits workers …show more content…
After the sale, it was clear to workers that tings in the factory would drastically change for the worse. On June 30th, 1989, those fears were realized: employees worked their last shift and left their Universal Manufacturing Company careers behind. MangeTek closed down the Paterson factory and moved to Matamoros, Mexico, where the labor was cheaper and there was a surplus in the labor force. In Matamoros, Balbina Duque Granados would, during her probationary period, earn sixty-five cents an hour, which equaled about $1,352 a year. Mollie James, while at Universal, made $7.91 an hour, which equaled about $30,000 a year. The problem with this picture? Balbina was working the same exact job as Mollie, and for the same …show more content…
Not only are U.S.-based companies moving south to Mexico, but also moving overseas, and that is mostly due to labor being cheap and labor rights barely existing or upheld. Mollie James moved from Virginia to New Jersey in order to have a steady job; now Americans struggle anywhere they go. Factories close quicker than sound moves and relocate in other countries just so the company can save money (save money on labor, but charge ridiculous prices for the products they produce).
With the way our current economy is functioning, I have a feeling that within the next ten to twenty years, more jobs will either be outsourced or employers will turn to telecommunication. With this belief, it will be insanely more difficult for Americans to get jobs; we may even have to move out of the country to do so. I’m not sure if there’s a way it can be fixed, but I do think companies should be trying to help their home country instead of saving hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of dollars on labor