Job cuts at Holland (Michigan) plant take workers by surprise

[UpInArms]

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2818579

HOLLAND, Mich. London-based Tomkins P-L-C, parent company of the Holland-based Hart and Cooley, says it will cut up to 250 jobs at its Holland plant.

Union officials for the 550 factory workers at the plant say the announcement took them by surprise.They say the company plans to gradually move some production and paint work to a plant in Tucson, Arizona.Tomkins bought Hart and Cooley in December 1999. The international manufacturing conglomerate owns various companies including handgun maker Smith and Wesson, private label grocery lines and Gates Rubber.The Hart and Cooley line has a lengthy history in Holland, beginning production in 1928 at the location it occupies today.

...more...

[ananda]

1. surprised?

It never stops amazing me that anyone should be surprised at something like this. It's been a symbol of Bushconomics for several years now, and still many Americans just don't get it... Their heads are in the egophrenic sand, I guess.

Sue

[UpInArms]

3. here's the chart

[rock]

6. Spot the looney

I'm sure you can find it if you look real close.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

26. How did Reagan do so well his 2nd term?

How do we explain that? I'd like to shoot down Bushonomics for all time and he is basically using Reaganomics, so how do we 'splain?

[Ruby Romaine]

2. these people voted for Bush -

Holland is not the blue part of Michigan

[gollygee]

4. Yes, Holland is freeperville

They probably were suprised. W told them the economy was improving.

[hadrons]

7. it gets funnier ....

Tomkins bought Hart and Cooley in December 1999. The international manufacturing conglomerate owns various companies including handgun maker Smith and Wesson, private label grocery lines and Gates Rubber.

They'll be buying guns from the very company that threw them out of work

[Cobalt Violet]

10. Wow, Cool!

[SoCalDem]

5. SURPRISE!!!!!

And a Happy Jobless New Year...

Even small children can notice patterns.. A Bush in the WH, means jobs go "poof"..

[warrens]

8. Hmmm, Tucson

Willing worker, meet willing employer. $6 an hour vs. $20. This is what Smirk has been up to and why he introduced that stupid immigration plan. It feeds right into the worst impulses of capitalists. We get a free and desperate underclass that will do any job, no matter how vile and underpaid.

[two gun sid]

9. All I can say

to the good fundie people of Holland: It's God's will, Mother Fuckers.

[Psephos]

11. Two Gun, I can't say I admire your emotions

I live in Michigan. Holland has a vibrant arts community, a beautiful restored downtown filled with bookstores, cafes, shops and galleries, and thousands of citizens who reliably vote Democrat. Frankly, however, the idea of doling out compassion based on political alignment seems like the antithesis of compassion. More like political patronage. How is this different from doling out compassion based on race, sexual identity, etc.?

Bigotry is the act of being partial to some people and intolerant or hateful to others based on national origin, socioeconomic status, religious preference, political affiliation, and other differences.

Vindictive hatred of people who were just tossed out into the cold should have no place here on DU. It's barbaric. From a practical point of view, it's also a political nonstarter, as it hinders getting the Democratic message out, and attracting new voters.

My $0.02 worth.

[purji]

12. I live in Michigan

I've been to Holland,I got a flat there once,and tons of people drove by and laughed at me changing it in the rain.Truly lovely folks.

[Ian David]

13. How can we find some of the displaced workers and taunt them?

Sorry, have I mentioned that I'm an asshole?

On edit:
Can we get a list of the displaced workers and only taunt the ones who registered Republican?

[two gun sid]

14. Psephos, you make some good points.

But, I have to wonder: If I was in their spot and they in mine what would the good people of Ottawa Co. have to say? I think I have a good idea. Holland is one of the most conservative, faith-based, reactionary spots in the world. It may have a beautiful downtown but, if you scratch the surface it is one of the most ugly and hateful of places.

I am a common worker, an electrician, and I do feel sorry for those out of work. I have been there and I know it's tough. I am surprised that the good folks in Holland are shocked at the loss of jobs. They knew what George W. Bush stood for. Instead of voting for hope they choose to vote for hate. They let wedge issues like gay marriage and abortion override their own economic well being.

I do not hate them. I do feel compassion for them. My idea of compassion is making sure that they will receive retraining or further education so they can get other employment.I want them to receive unemployment compensation to help them in their time of need. I want them to receive health care. Things many Hollanders would call communism and evil.

I am sorry if I offended you. I apologize.

[Psephos]

17. No offense taken, and none offered. The same feelings well up in me, too.

I'm self-employed, btw. Like you, I know what it's like to have plenty of work, and I know what it's like to sit on my butt and hope things get better.

Your reply post is thoughtful, and in the spirit of discussion that I prize about DU. We needn't (and can't and shouldn't) all agree on everything, but that's no reason to take offense. You did not offend me; to the contrary, you stimulated me to think about things.

My point is this: it's not useful to overgeneralize, even about a place like Holland. Yes, there are more followers of Dutch Reform and other conservative religions there than in the general US population. But even in Holland, there are many, many people who do not approve of the conservative agenda and did not vote for the Republicans. How do I know? Because I am friends with several of them, and they tell me about the liberal subcommunity and its frustrations.

Whether Holland is beautiful or ugly and hateful is a subjective judgment; I respect your judgment, but caution that others have had different experiences there (I am one of them). We end up alienating a lot of people when we put down entire communities based only on the majority political leanings shown in election databases. The job loss situation in Holland is actually a superb opportunity for progressives to make political inroads, by working with the dispossessed to make better of the situation than they will get under the current politicos.

If we want to see Holland (and by extension, other conservative-majority communities) reconsider their allegiance to Republicans, then remember that in Chinese the word for crisis is also the word for opportunity.

[PassingFair]

16. You're...

new here, aren't you...

Glad everything is "beautiful" over on the DeVos side of the state.

Engler's patronage didn't make it this far south or east.

[Psephos]

18. I live on the east side of the state.

I wish you hadn't used the newbie label to put me down. Discussion is made harder, not easier, when we sneer at other posters. I don't mind in the least if you disagree with me, and would like to hear the way your opinions differ from mine. A monoculture of opinion serves no one.

[PassingFair]

19. Don't feel too put upon...

you have your lovely galleries and coffee houses to console you.

[Psephos]

20. I have no galleries and no coffee houses to console me.

What I do have, however, is a Section 8 apartment, no automobile, and no income since October. Today, my consolation has come not from some gallery (there are none here) but from walking along the river through a burned-out industrial park. The sun is shining. Even though I am freezing, the light reminds me that there are moments of beauty in the world.

You don't know who I am, where I live, or what I look like, but you enjoy trying to belittle me because I have some opinions that differ from your own. As though the world doesn't have enough misery, you have to add your stick to the pile.

Harrumph.

[PassingFair]

21. Here's ...

a match.


Have a happy day.

[murray hill farm]

23. Welcome here, psephos

I am happy to see you here! You are soooooo right! Hate, in whatever form of self rightous anger it takes, is always distructive! And you are right, Holland is a beautiful little town..and these folks working at that plant did not deserve this because they just happen to live in an area that is traditionally conservative. Yeah, that bigoted response from some here is always a surise to me too....actually is is very much a christian reform kind of attitude..that generalization of lumping everyone into a basket of being of one mind..and then saying they deserve what has happened to them.

[two gun sid]

24. Yes Psephos, welcome to DU

Don't let any of this get you down.One of my first posts a guy jumped on me so hard the moderators deleted his post. He kept posting and they kept deleting. He wouldn't quit. I got quite a kick out of it. Look forward to discussing other issues with you.



Two Gun

[Psephos]

28. Two Gun, and Mexico - you're both awesome

Thanks. I'm looking forward to running into both of you again soon.

[warrens]

22. It's not patronage and it's not even akin to racism

Although I might have phrased it a bit differently, it's poetic justice if, as charged, this is really a fundie town. I have no pity for people who vote for the world's worst thugs, then act shocked when it happens to THEM, not some "little brown ones" or "commie atheists."

I would like to see every person who voted for Bush out on the streets starving. Some people only learn when it happens to them.

[tsuki]

27. Sorry, Warren. I live in a completely Red sea, and they do not learn.

They sit there unemployed with their benefits running out bitching about those d*mn liberals and their spending policies, their immorality, their baseness, and the blue dress that led 'Mericans down the path of destruction. IT'S CLINTON'S FAULT.

I have tried, time and time again, to talk about the problems facing us today. IT'S CLINTON'S FAULT.

I have a difficult time feeling for them anymore. If they won't open their eyes, I cannot feel compassion for them.

[Bouncy Ball]

29. I see where two gun is coming from, though.

If you vote for this shitty administration, then you rubber stamped the shitty economy getting even shittier.

How am I supposed to feel sorry for people who do that, especially when I have to suffer in the same shitty economy?

[imax2268]

15. Well...

just wait until the Pentagon starts cutting long running programs and some new programs over the next year or so and watch all those people lose their jobs...

This does not surprise me though...these next four years are going to be the worst ever I'm afraid...

[The_Casual_Observer]

25. Hey surprised Hollanders! Tough Ass for you!!!

Maybe they can get a job at their fundie church instead.

[proudbluestater]

30. More Union Busting and gifts for the red states at the expense of the blue

where, often, when you get a job, it allows you to feed your family and have insurance.