Harbor Freight Tools

[doitmyself]

While it would be ideal if everyone learned from past history, it obviously isn't happening world wide.

Let us not forget that in the past 100 years +, the U.S. nearly logged off most of the eastern and mid west forests. Bad farming practices contributed to the dust bowl. And, our industrial revolution created it's share of labor abuse, safety problems, pollution, and environmental ruin.

One must be careful to criticize when we set the bad example to be followed.

 

[Trav]

Quote:
I didn't know we were voting for best post in this thread

Oh sure and we have a winner

Overkill has nailed this HF business down with a sledge hammer.

 

[jcwit]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: jcwit
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
If the cost of living in the USA continues to climb, but the average hourly wage for manufacturing work slides down to the $9-12/hour range to compete with China, is this "livable", or is that simply the definition of the working poor? What quality of life can somebody making those wages expect to "enjoy" for the rest of their life in the "land of opportunity"?


So then its time those that are unsatisified with $9 to $12 hour wage, advance their education and better themselves. No reason to continue in the lower wage bracket, unless of course they have no will to better themselves.


Right, and everybody is equal.

Sir, there are people that can work in a manufacturing plant, work WELL in a manufacturing plant and do a DARN GOOD JOB, but they are never going to be a rocket scientist, carry a PhD, or even a University degree.

Having everybody in management means there is nobody to manage.

Contrary to what is peddled to us in school when we are young, we are not all cut from the same cloth and certain people are better at certain things than others. Often significantly better.

We all find our niche and if that niche is working in a Snap-On plant making ratchets and doing a darn good job of it, that person deserves to be earning a wage that is adequate enough to feed and cloth their family, provide them a modest place to live and afford them reliable transportation. That means that they need to be earning more than $9.00 or $12.00 an hour.


Maybe I should have also mentioned that if you do not like your pay scale, do something about it.

I memtioned in a previous post about the RV industry paying 800 to 1200 dollars takehome a week. This is for line production workers, working a 40 hour week or less, it depends when they get their quota done. That sure beats 9 to 12 dollars an hour. Many of these are Amish with an 8th grade education.

Not positive about todays but within just 3 years ago drywallers in the manufactured housing industry were starting out at $80 per hour.

Point is, if you do not like your pay scale and are unsatisified with your job/work, do something about it. Don't just P & M about it and buy lottery tickets thinging that is your salvation.

 

[edwardh1]

who owns harbor freight?

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
And, our industrial revolution created it's share of labor abuse, safety problems, pollution, and environmental ruin.


And intellectual property issues. The guy who first brought textile mills in New England stole the blueprints from British Industrialists in his head by memorizing them.

Ben Franklin (or as it was told) found a seed on an imported-from-the-old-world broom straw and planted said straw on US soil.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
who owns harbor freight?


IIRC a wealthy American, or Americans.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: jcwit
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: jcwit
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
If the cost of living in the USA continues to climb, but the average hourly wage for manufacturing work slides down to the $9-12/hour range to compete with China, is this "livable", or is that simply the definition of the working poor? What quality of life can somebody making those wages expect to "enjoy" for the rest of their life in the "land of opportunity"?


So then its time those that are unsatisified with $9 to $12 hour wage, advance their education and better themselves. No reason to continue in the lower wage bracket, unless of course they have no will to better themselves.


Right, and everybody is equal.

Sir, there are people that can work in a manufacturing plant, work WELL in a manufacturing plant and do a DARN GOOD JOB, but they are never going to be a rocket scientist, carry a PhD, or even a University degree.

Having everybody in management means there is nobody to manage.

Contrary to what is peddled to us in school when we are young, we are not all cut from the same cloth and certain people are better at certain things than others. Often significantly better.

We all find our niche and if that niche is working in a Snap-On plant making ratchets and doing a darn good job of it, that person deserves to be earning a wage that is adequate enough to feed and cloth their family, provide them a modest place to live and afford them reliable transportation. That means that they need to be earning more than $9.00 or $12.00 an hour.


Maybe I should have also mentioned that if you do not like your pay scale, do something about it.

I memtioned in a previous post about the RV industry paying 800 to 1200 dollars takehome a week. This is for line production workers, working a 40 hour week or less, it depends when they get their quota done. That sure beats 9 to 12 dollars an hour. Many of these are Amish with an 8th grade education.

Not positive about todays but within just 3 years ago drywallers in the manufactured housing industry were starting out at $80 per hour.

Point is, if you do not like your pay scale and are unsatisified with your job/work, do something about it. Don't just P & M about it and buy lottery tickets thinging that is your salvation.


Auto workers still make a killing too. Those aren't the jobs I'm talking about, I'm talking about the ones that have been outsourced and so the "competition" for those jobs that are now overseas pay $9-12/hour when they USED to pay significantly more.

Heck, another example with the auto industry are the now tiered wages with the new hires making less than 1/2 of what the legacy hires make.

It has not affected all manufacturing sector jobs.... yet. Give it time. This isn't "P&M'ing" about somebody's wage, this is somebody who used to have a job in a particular sector, had it out-sourced and then a comparable job, a job that perhaps they ENJOY doing and are darn good at it, paying a FRACTION of what they made before because the entire demographic for that industry changed.

You can't just cherry pick some examples of high wage manufacturing sector jobs and say "look, these guys make good money, there's nothing wrong, if you don't like your wage change your job." The guy that had his job out-sourced shouldn't have had to go looking for a new job if he was good at the one he was doing and making a decent living doing it.

You are passing the buck. Everybody passes the buck. That's part of this whole bloody problem! Nobody wants to take RESPONSIBILITY for this working-class erosion, but we are all to blame! Supporting the companies that farmed out these jobs to bolster their bottom line makes us part of the problem. So stop passing the buck, if you don't care if Fred loses his job at Matco because you prefer to save a few dollars shopping the Chinese tools at Harbour Freight, fine, SAY THAT. Don't say that Fred needs to find a new job, because that's [censored]. That is shifting the blame, passing the buck and pretending that this entire SYSTEM doesn't involve you, me, or any other CONSUMER of these goods. Because it does.

 

[jcwit]

So its wrong or impossible for a dissatisfied worker to be responsible for his own future, in other words "making something of himself".

Yup, just accept your low position and live with it, and continue to p & m, thats the new American way.

Maybe we all just need to forget to attempt to do anything for our future, just take it as it comes, with no hope.

Just roll over and die!

Thats a good attidude.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: jcwit
So its wrong or impossible for a dissatisfied worker to be responsible for his own future, in other words "making something of himself".


I didn't state that at all. Please go back and re-read what I wrote. I'm talking about a good, well paid worker LOSING his job due to it being out-sourced to a manufacturing facility in China. He had already "made something of himself" and had that TAKEN AWAY from him, because the company he worked for found it was CHEAPER to move their facility to China and bolster their bottom-line.

Quote:
Yup, just accept your low position and live with it, and continue to p & m, thats the new American way.

Maybe we all just need to forget to attempt to do anything for our future, just take it as it comes, with no hope.

Just roll over and die!

Thats a good attidude.


I'm rallying for change and responsibility for our buying habits and you are shopping Chinese goods and telling everybody that they just need to "better themselves" and find new jobs if they aren't happy with the ones they have. Newsflash: They WERE happy with the ones they had until they were taken away. You seem to be missing that part.

 

[hr1940]

This thread is not on tract and members are flaming each other. This web site is not the place to discuss economics or other similar subjects. Lock Time.

Helen