Let’s summarize, and this isn’t only about Snap On. First of all, how was your great country built? By the hard work of Americans, not foreign labor! Then labor unions came into effect because of unfair labor practices and unsafe working conditions. What do we want, a polluted environment, so we can compete with China. Is it okay to go to work and not know if your coming home alive. Consumer driven products, the cheaper the better. How many Chinese buy Snap On tools? How many Americans are out of work because our thirst for cheaper and cheaper goods. Why don’t the CEO’s and the shareholders live in China? It’s all about profits and nothing else! Governments don’t care about the average Joe, corporate America runs the show! Governments are supposed to be for the people, something they forgot along the way. Sure, I like to save a little cash too on my purchases, but at what cost. A quote from Bob White former president of CAW, “How many cars do those robots buy” I my humble option, we are the ones to blame, stop buying offshore! Keep jobs in America where they belong and invest in ourselves not China!
My summarized view of American History:
America is a country stolen from the Indians (Native Americans) and built on the backs of Slave and Immigrant labor.
Not too many White Europeans picked cotton.
Not too many White Europeans built the railroads, Hoover Dam or dug the I&M canal.
While I agree in principle with your post, it is important to remember that early well to do Americans treated their workers, Slave or Free, very poorly.
The early Fords and Rockerfellers had no qualms using child labor and destroying the environment to make a quick buck. Labor unions, the EPA and OSHA are outgrowths of that treatment. The EPA is fairly recent, so we mucked up our own environment for a long time before the people did something about it.
Businesses certainly did not become "environmentally conscious" until they realized there is money to be made under the Energy Star and Organic labels.
However, Ford knew that if he priced his cars at a point where his employees could pay for them, and paid his employees enough to buy those cars using a newfangled invention -credit-, everyone in the circle would prosper.
This changed over time as Wall Street focused on quarterly gains instead of long term gains and profitability.
The easiest way to cut expenses is payroll and benefits because things like OSHA and EPA compliance is law and expensive when businesses get caught.
Wages stagnate for the average American hourly worker while everything else continues to go up in price. Wages for CEO's increase 1000 fold.
Americans embraced the "more for less" philosophy offered by upstart Wal*Mart- a company that initially offered good prices on US sourced merchandise in bulk. Then Greed set in, someone figured out that more profit could be made by making suppliers outsource production for a lower wholesale price and the same retail price. As a side benefit, those other countries didn't have those nasty little things like unions, OSHA or the EPA.
Other retailers noticed the cash Wal*Mart minted and quickly followed their business model. Things like NAFTA helped to export jobs.
Now we have an America that wonders where all the good paying jobs are, yet consumers continue to spend as little as possible on consumer goods because wages have stagnated in the traditional middle class since the early 80's.
Houses have gotten bigger, so more "stuff" is needed to fill that house, and you either have to make more money to buy more stuff, or make the stuff cheaper so more of it can be bought for the same money.
Seems like we are smart enough to know what is "right", yet we are still unwilling to pay for it.
Yea I imagine it is just a head office or some sort for snap on mexico
