N.C. textile towns struggle with massive layoffs

[UpInArms]

http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/11/03/3fa64d71ad48a

excerpt:

Pillowtex, a Kannapolis-based textile company and producer of home fashion furnishings including towels and comforters under brand names such as Royal Velvet, Fieldcrest and Cannon, announced July 30 its immediate liquidation due to bankruptcy. Concurrent with the bankruptcy announcement, Pillowtex terminated nearly 6,450 employees and closed all 16 manufacturing and distribution plants.

With approximately 5,500 jobs lost in North Carolina alone, the closing marks the largest layoff in state history. Kannapolis has been at the center of the job loss from the closings.

"When you include the families of the laid-off workers, this impacts close to 10,000 folks, which is about a third of the population of Kannapolis," said Charles Page, senior vice- president for community building with the United Way of central Carolinas. Pillowtex, once the largest textile employer in North Carolina, was bankrupted by what company CEO and Chair Michael Gannaway cited in a press release as "soft consumer demand, the intensity of foreign competition, industry overcapacity and downward pricing pressure."

Gannaway's mention of foreign competition refers to current free trade agreements, particularly those with China. In 2001, China became a member of the World Trade Organization and came under a 1994 Congressional agreement to eliminate textile quotas for member states by 2005.

...more...

[JoeMemphis]

1. This can't be true!

* recommends U.S. citizens to just keep repeating "we're in a recovery" over and over again and vote for him '04 to keep the "recovery" going.

On Edit: Removed the word "President" before * for accuracy purposes.

[Noordam]

2. I wonder if Walmart carries any Pillowtex products

and how many Walmarts are in Kannapolis

[izzie]

3. Well that will go over in the town I live next to

Sanford Maine almost folder when the mills shut and left for NC in the late 40's and 50's. Unions had no say in the South. Comes back right?

[MaineDem]

5. That's why Sanford needs the casino

:eyes:

[Malva Zebrina]

12. Yup

got a call the other day from a young woman whose sad voice was pleading to vote for the casino as she, and hundreds of her coworkers will soon be laid off from a Biddeford factory. Got another one from ah hysterical sounding man who shouted that casinos want to expose children to the gambling and the mafia! Huh? In almost every Maine fairgrounds that cater pretty much to children with the rides and exhibits etc. there is horse race betting and children running around! We will see. Maine People's Alliance has stated it favors the casino and the main reason is because it will provide jobs --

[MaineDem]

14. I was being facetious

I hope that came across.

I've been getting those calls, too. It'll be interesting to see the results of ALL the voting tomorrow. There's a lot of money - and the future of the state - at stake.

[Atlant]

4. Nest time, vote for the Democrats. (NT)

[Mika]

8. Huh?

"Nest time, vote for the Democrats."



That alone won't help on this type of issue.

Clinton & most Dems pushed for NAFTA and are pushing for FTAA.

Dennid K is our only Dem prez candidate willing to take a poke at NAFTA, etc.

Its past time for the Dem party membership to stand up to demand and nominate and elect candidates who represent the best interests of the American worker. Just voting Dem without such demands means voting for equal opportunity panderers to big biz.

[Wellong]

10. Democrats

are the predominant party in NC. Our Gov. is a democrat, and almost every Gov has been. The state legislature has been dominated by democrats for 150 years, outside of the 1994 GOP landslide which gave them control of the State House, which they promptly lost, then regained, then lost again, and no have regained by 1 vote.

Our Council Of State had never had a republican on it until 2000 when Cheri Berry was elected Secretary of Labor. First republican EVER elected to the Council of State.

Voting democrat clearly is not the answer to this problem. It is a problem that needs solutions far bigger than just a D after elected officals names.

[JeebusH]

6. I'm sure that 7.2% growth will cheer them right up ....

[SoCalDem]

7. Google... Flint Michigan...to see what they will become

Of course cheap bedding is what 'Murika is all about.. Heaven forbid that the consumers might have to pay a bit more for a commodity that will last for what?...15- 20 years?? (I have sheets that I got as a wedding present 33 years ago)...We also have new ones..:)..don't sign me up for care packages just yet :P..

We are so brainwashed here, that we believe it is our birthright to buy cheap stuff..

People have forgotten that old saying about one hand washing the other.... The school teacher who wants to pay $6.00 for a sheet is forgetting that her car salesman husband might not sell that car to the employee who "used" to have a job at the factory where those sheets "were" made.. and that her salary will be adversely affected when those employees tax money is "missing" from the state coffers, because they are on unemployment...

It's all connected...

[kodi]

9. back story. execs at pillowtex expanded too fast, market then went down

pillowtex engaged in "engulf and devour" in the 90's, and bought out competitors with inefficent operations at a time when they needed instead to improve the efficiency of their own plants.

a shell game was played with investors to maximize profits over the short term to make the company look good when they went out to borrow money to buy more businesses.

then the bubble burst. there is no doubt that pillowtex was hurt by china and the imports form the far east, but those guys running the show there were mercenaries and gutted the operation for short term gain.

sound familar?

[CounterCoulter]

11. Yes, protection has no downsides <roll eyes>

Some of my yippie friends who love "socialism" (even though they can't define the term), Nader and hate the "global economy" were arguing with me as to why NAFTA was bad the other day.

The problem with the anti-NAFTA people is that they don't understand the problems with protection. Sure it helps those protected, with free trade, both trading countries can increase their GDP--and those layed off don't necessarily have to lose. In reality they (those losing their jobs) do lose because Walmart "Up by the bootstraps" Nation (the sheeple) no longer believes in redistribution of the wealth. The Right has them convinced that Bill Gates efforts were genuinely worth 100 Million times that of the average person's efforts (but that is a rant for another day...).

If the U.S. would merely take some of it's efficiency gains from free trade and use them to fund things like worker retraining, the labor of people who lose their jobs due to international competition could be diverted to industries in which the US has a comparative advantage.

Many times it blows my mind how yippies and leftists don't understand comparative advantage and free trade. I'm not naive to think that globalization doesn't have some ugly downsides for people in the third world, but many times my Green/Yippie friends act as if comparative advantage is categorically evil--when in fact specialization is what allows us to enjoy the level of material wealth that we now enjoy.

[bleedingheart]

13. All my towels are Fieldcrest and Royal velvet

I supported them but alas most people want the cheapest brands...all made overseas...