Taking A Stand: Boycott businesses who leave country
Yet another company is sending our jobs south of the border, looking to make big profits for themselves while their loyal workers are left out in the cold.
The announcement that the new employees of a local industry will be speaking a language other than English is only the latest assault on the Warren County workforce. Over the past 15 years or so, we’ve seen it happen over and over again with numerous factories deciding to head south in search of better profit margins. The story is always the same, with these companies saying they have to cut personnel costs in order to compete.
In the wake of such a pullout there are numerous families left on the verge of economic collapse, especially given the recessionary atmosphere right now. It’s not like a person has their choice of jobs here. While we haven’t reached the 18 percent unemployment of the early 1980s yet, a continued decline of our industrial base will soon affect us all.
I guess what makes me the maddest about such shameless abandonment of the American worker is that companies make loyalty a one-way street. Employers expect you to be a loyal employee, working hard each day to help the company turn a profit. However, when they have a chance to better impress their stockholders, they’re quick to go to greener pastures.
Hey, the everyday workers have an investment too in these companies. They invest their time and effort into hopes of advancement, only to see their investment wiped out by a boardroom decision made by people they’ve never met. It’s not the decision makers who have to send the head of a family of five to the unemployment line. Instead, they leave that distinction to a local company official. The decision makers don’t have the unpleasant job of making these tough announcements. It’s about math with them, not about human beings who are trying to make a living paycheck to paycheck.
Well, I say it’s time the pencil pushers were forced to get a little dirty. I say it’s time we make them pay for their lack of loyalty to the American worker. If they’re so keen on letting foreigners produce their product, then let them sell their merchandise to the foreigners. Patriotism is more than flying your flag during time of war or donning a bumper sticker on your car. Patriotism includes supporting the American worker. We need economic patriotism.
How do we do this? Well, we start by refusing to buy products from companies who take the food out of the mouths of American children. If enough people boycott companies who move their production facilities south of the border, (and the companies who do business with them) then that profit margin they speak so highly about will soon disappear. America is the world’s number one consumer.
If Americans decide they will demand economic patriotism, then it will happen. Instead of standing by and simply whining about the loss of jobs, the American workers must stand as one and take the power back. When companies see there’s a price to be paid by going south of the border, they won’t be so cavalier about leaving. Big business doesn’t care what you say, but they do care what you do, especially when it means Americans are closing their wallets to their products.
Now I’m not talking about buying American exclusively, that softens the message and frankly that doesn’t work. I’m talking about targeting businesses which pull their lines from our country and relocate in the name of profit. Hey, I’m going to do it. I know what it feels like to have a family member lose a job south of the border. And you, as a reader, can either stand there and flap your gums or join in.