Unions Kill Manufacturing? South China Morning Post

Consumers gravitate toward low prices, and companies have sought low cost labor to compete. In the early 20th century, US companies relocated from union-dominated northern states to the South, and since the 1970s, manufacturing shifted toward China and other countries with low wages and standards. The Chinese owner of a car glass factory based in Ohio blames unions for a decline in US manufacturing. Cao Dewang, whose plant was featured in a documentary produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, suggests that US manufacturers, ready to relocate, resist modernizing plants. The US emphasis on design, research and finance reduces career interest in manufacturing. “While China’s official Communist ideology is based upon Karl Marx’s theories on workers taking control of the means of production, China has embraced a development model that favours capital over labour, which generated strong headline economic growth rates but has also increased the country’s income inequality to one of the highest levels in the world,” reports Zin Zhou for South China Morning Post.” Cao was interviewed by Beijing News. In the transcript, he warns that nations increasingly recognize the need to be competitive by reducing imbalances. He also adds that China must focus on reducing costs or risk erosion of its manufacturing base. – YaleGlobal