Back in the early 80s my wife has a job sewing blue jeans for Levi Strauss. It was far and away the best paying job around for an industrial seamstress. $8/hr ($22.51 in 2022 dollars) where the minimum wage was $3.25/hr. Someone started an effort to unionize. I have no idea how much that mattered in the decisio…
Back in the early 80s my wife has a job sewing blue jeans for Levi Strauss. It was far and away the best paying job around for an industrial seamstress. $8/hr ($22.51 in 2022 dollars) where the minimum wage was $3.25/hr. Someone started an effort to unionize. I have no idea how much that mattered in the decision to shut down all the US plants and move them offshore, but that's what happened.
I had just taken a new expat job (a bit of irony) and we were moving away. She would have been quitting anyway but timing is everything. They gave her a generous eight-week payout when they shut it down. Back in the union busting days you point to if you demanded more than an employer could pay and stay in business they couldn't move offshore. I guess losing the best job you could find was better than facing the Pinkertons. Not an excuse for sending in the vigilantes.
I'm aware of that history.
Back in the early 80s my wife has a job sewing blue jeans for Levi Strauss. It was far and away the best paying job around for an industrial seamstress. $8/hr ($22.51 in 2022 dollars) where the minimum wage was $3.25/hr. Someone started an effort to unionize. I have no idea how much that mattered in the decision to shut down all the US plants and move them offshore, but that's what happened.
I had just taken a new expat job (a bit of irony) and we were moving away. She would have been quitting anyway but timing is everything. They gave her a generous eight-week payout when they shut it down. Back in the union busting days you point to if you demanded more than an employer could pay and stay in business they couldn't move offshore. I guess losing the best job you could find was better than facing the Pinkertons. Not an excuse for sending in the vigilantes.