Dell to close plant, lay off 905

[ccharles000]

Dell plans to close its computer manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem by January, and lay off 905 employees.

Dell opened the assembly plant in 2005 and was offered a massive incentives package valued at $305 million if it met hiring and investment goals, Alan Wolf on the .biz blog reports.

The project was seen as a major economic development victory by supporters and a huge waste of taxpayer money by critics.

About 600 workers at the plant will be let go next month, Dell announced this afternoon. The rest will be out of work by early next year.

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/dell_to_close_plant_lay_off_905

[Horse with no Name]

1. In my hometown

>>>
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your
hometown
Your hometown
Your hometown
Your hometown

[hobbit709]

6. We Can't Make It

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv0q3cW3x1s

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna set there till they rot
'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
'Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their shit don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the damn little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat shit, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is
That's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind
If you're listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all why

In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

[cyclezealot]

2. Dell once had major operations in San Diego.

Employees reported they were bastards to work for. Last I knew many of the operations are in Tj across the border. Probably in China now.. Stuff like this affects my buying habits. As we did before, Dell products will never sit atop our desk..

[WCGreen]

3. I'll never buy Dell again...

[davidpdx]

5. First labtop I owed was a Dell and it was a POS

Have an HP now and am much happier with it.

[cyclezealot]

7. me too.

[hobbit709]

4. Dell has done this for years

Get some community to give them tax abatements for a few years and when time's up they move on.
Michael Dell is a good Republican asshole. He was an asshole when he was selling computers out of his dorm room and he's now an asshole with $5 billion.
They treat people like shit and rely mainly on temp workers so that they don't have to provide benefits.

[KharmaTrain]

8. Yep...These Guys Dictate Their Terms

We had a corporate in this area who got a sweetheart deal from a nearby town to locate their offices. The deal included tax abatement for 10 years and millions in road and other infrastructure improvements. The return to the community was minimal as the company never delivered the number of jobs they promised and most lived and shopped in other areas. When the abatement ended, the company announced it was moving to a new location (surely getting a new sweetheart deal) and now the factory is turning into a local eyesore...vacant with little chance of anyone moving in soon.

I never owned a Dell...nor an HP...due to their support of rushpublicans. Also cause they couldn't stand up to heavy use with garbage for customer service.