Homestead mailing list

[Lisa Perry <lkvp AT floydva.net>]

Marie McHarry wrote:

> I don't even want to imagine what next Christmas will be like:
> http://www.tompaine.com/articles/of_trade_quotas_and_fairness.php
>  
>
> Within 500 days, 70 percent of the industry will move to China —a $220 
> billion shift; $42 billion of that shift will happen just in the 
> business other countries had with the U.S. Now, certainly, U.S. 
> apparel workers are going to feel a terrible hit. The remaining U.S. 
> industry will almost be wiped out: of the roughly 690,000 jobs left in 
> apparel in this country, probably 400,000 will vanish in three years. 
> These are often jobs in rural, poorer communities where there are not 
> a lot of options.

Floyd County in sw Virginia used to have 3 apparel manufacturing plants 
(perhaps 4--I might be off). Now there's just one and it's barely 
holding on. I guess it's the same story everywhere. Two of the plants 
closed since we moved here five years ago, and as you'd imagine, it's 
been a struggle for those who used to be employed at the plant. One of 
the vacant buildings was recently sold. Even more impact on the sw 
Virginia area in general, has been the demise of the furniture making 
industry.