We live in a free market. As a consumer, you can choose not to buy products and/or services that are made/provided overseas.
Are Unions done?
- Thread starter SunnY S
- Start date
We live in a free market. As a consumer, you can choose not to buy products and/or services that are made/provided overseas.
The flip side is that we also live in a global market. Just as Canadian consumers buy globally, Canadian producers also sell globally. For Canadian firms to prosper, they need to be able to sell beyond our borders. With our wages where they are, our Canadian-produced goods and services are at a handicap when it comes to being cost-competitive in that global market.
OpenGambit
Banned
Thats the problem really, when you have a bunch of guys making more than they would make in the private sector crying about the possibility of actually be fired... It gets hard to care.
Especially when your garbage starts piling up on your curb.
No doubt the global economy is causing a dramatic paradigm shift. The only way to stop it in Canada is:
a. close the market - revoke free trade, don't allow any exports or imports.
b. be more innovative in product/service offerings.
Which is what we had back in the 1800s. The result now as then would be that with a limited population providing a limited market, no Canadian manufacturer would ever be able to achieve decent economies of scale necessary to lower per unit costs. Nor would they have any incentive to really try. With a captive market with little or no competition, why should they?
I agree. It was an option, but not something I'd endorse.
Living in a global economy, we are eventually going to see a shift of money from the haves to the have-nots. The have-nots can do things cheaper than the haves, which means the money will shift to the have-nots. The have-nots will get richer and the haves will become poorer.
This 1200-1300 sq-ft house sure has a lot of rooms. Spinster aunt and a roomer plus a family?
Its great to not have a car but if you have a family it is almost imposible to get by on transit alone. You would end up paying the same monthly as a car anyway.
Not to mention in order to get educated you are forced to saddle yourself with massive debt. The cost of education has far out paced the wage for those positions when they get out.
The answer is "suck it up."
That is until it starts to effect them.
When auto workers are making $35 an hour the plant electrician is sitting up near 40 no? What happens when the auto workers are making $15 an hour?
Things defiantly arnt right.
Or they could move away from the GTA and buy the same house for $200K. Suddenly they have enough money for a decent and reliable car and some of those luxury items you mentioned.. maybe even a nice vacation every once in a while.
But no.. millions of people choose the GTA way of life and they get very little sympathy from me.
This is a valid point.
Read this:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/08/25/why-your-teenager-cant-use-a-hammer/
15 years from now anyone who can turn a wrench or swing a hammer will be a millionaire. I worry about the future. Too many kids are focused on a university education being their meal ticket. An education system spitting out 10,000 engineers to feed an industry with only 5,000 entry level positions is not sustainable.
If someone were to move away from the GTA would they be able to find a job with the same rate of pay as they would in the GTA? I would argue not. So even though the cost of living goes down, that is offset by a lower salary.
OpenGambit
Banned
I don't think engineers are the issue- it is at least a mobile industry. they can get educated as an engineer here and move to the US..
Its guys graduating with liberal arts degree that end up next to nowhere.
That makes me feel a little better about the choices ive made.
OpenGambit
Banned
I moved away from the GTA - wage up, cost of living down, lower tax rate, more work.
Or they just happen to have a job in that area. For most people their work dictates what area of the province they live not a lifestyle. The GTA is a major business hub. A lot of people need to live there to work.
I agree 100%. Whenever I talk to kids thinking of school I always suggest to look at trades. Of course the rates a trade can charge will fall in line with what people can afford. If everyone is unemployed or on basic wages not many people will be building houses or renovating.
you forgot to add... in your specific career. I know I couldn't leave the GTA and make the same money. Not even close.
Unionistas are hypocrates and don't walk the talk - Walmart is evil due to their anti-union stance BUT I have never seen more union apparel being worn in any other store than in Walmart. Everyone wants to save money when money is tight. Caboose, OpenGamit and even Turbo make good comments about wage competativeness.
Re the comments of the 20-30 somethings having trouble make ends meet with their employment income? It's a Saturday night right now - go to any middling bar / restaurant and I bet you'll see decent cars parked nearby driven there by the patrons that will likely be young, showing pictures of their latest winter vacation on their smartphones. Easy cheap redit = easy debt if you have no restraint.
Last edited:
daught
Well-known member
Far from it, I dont have that choice when it comes to most things. The ones I do are actually very good and not much more expensive. For example if you look for high end backcountry gear you can find small North American producers that make amazing stuff for little more. On top of it they guarantee their stuff for life. It really pisses me off when some of these companies start producing stuff offshore when they gain some market(Arc'teryx). Their excuse is that they can't produce locally, enough to meet demand cost effectively. That's bull and I wont go back to them.
Look at numbers from the 60-70. Standard of living and purchasing power was much higher for individuals. A lot more stuff was made here. Free trade didn't improve any of that, it eroded everything. We should be protected against labor competition from China where employees live in dorms and eat a bowl of rice a day. Never mind all the accidents and death they have at their workplace. Were not shifting wealth from haves to the have-nots. Those people are far from haves. Were shifting labor protection from haves to have-none.
Last edited:
OpenGambit
Banned
I figured that was a given since I am obviously not talking about someone elses's career when I say "I"
