Goodbye Norma Rae. Bedrock US textile industry faces extinction

[Bluebear]

ERWIN, N.C. – The town of Erwin once proudly proclaimed itself the "Denim Capital of the World." Workers stamped "Hong Kong" and "Tel Aviv" on bolts of high-grade denim as two mills supplied the world with overalls, bell-bottoms, and hip-huggers.

Times certainly change with the fashion. Today, the looms have fallen silent. Textile jobs here have fallen from a peak of 2,500 to zero. And as this North Carolina town struggles to define its future, its plight suggests a harsh reality: One of America's bedrock industries appears increasingly near extinction, threatening a way of life that has allowed blue-collar communities to stitch together a patchwork of prosperity.

The decline of textile jobs, while familiar, is generating fresh concern this year thanks to a flood of newly legalized imports from China. The Bush administration, responding to industry complaints and a tripling in the rate of mill closures, said this week that it will investigate whether Chinese imports are disrupting the US market. The move could result in reimposed quotas.

But as that process moves forward, the case of Erwin is a reminder of the nearly inexorable nature of the challenge. The last mill here closed five years ago, long before China's competitive potential was unleashed on world apparel markets. The threat from Shanghai and Souzhou now adds to worries that many of America's remaining 677,000 textile and apparel jobs - down from 1.6 million in 1994 - could face a similar fate....

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0406/p01s02-usec.html

[LoZoccolo]

1. I like to buy union-made jeans from this company.

http://www.unionjeancompany.com

[fertilizeonarbusto]

2. butbutbut

I thought Shrubby was going to protect these people's livelihoods because he's just the kinda guy you can have a beer with (well, HE can't, but...)

[Bluebear]

3. When this group of Bush voters realize they have lost EVERYTHING...

are they going to be some P.O.'ed.

[atreides1]

4. No

Like the good little kool-aid drinking sheep they are, they will blame the loss of their jobs on anything else but Bush and their
beloved Republicans.

Just wait and see.

[Bluebear]

5. Every sucker has that moment

when they slap their foreheads and feel like fools. Ain't sayin' it's going to come soon but eventually the truth has to out itself. Being forced to sleep in your car tends to do that. I think the new bankruptcy law flew under the radar for many of these people, and when they discover there's no way out, maybe they will wake up having discovered they overslept.

Or maybe you're right and it's all Clinton's fault.

[Tesha]

7. Not if they're still watching Faux News. (NT)

[derby378]

6. Tom DeLay had a hand in this

We used to have a garment industry in Dallas, but DeLay helped ship all those jobs to sweatshops in Saipan. Beware...

[Robert Oak]

8. here's some links to buy US + story links CNN commentary

www.onshorealternatives.com

http://www.noslaves.com/consumer.htm

Trade Market probe:

The U.S. Commerce Department said Monday it was launching investigations that could lead to emergency import restrictions on certain pants, shirts and underwear made in China.

and CNN's
COMMENTARY:
Wastler's Wanderings
And now for the first "well, duh" award of the year ... it goes to the Bush Administration for its moves on imports of Chinese clothes. Seems there's been a spike in cheap textiles from China in the last three months. Gee, think it has anything to do with the removal in December of the quotas on Chinese clothing imports? WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN???!!! Well, there's now a "trade investigation" under way to formally make the connection and maybe reimpose the quotas. That'll draw off Congressional heat until the White House can get a trade treaty done in Central America ... for more cheap clothes.