Do you support free trade? What about labor unions? Or how about environmental and labor laws?

Another 1,400 manufacturing and distribution jobs lost. I am angry, I understand the pain of the workers. Why did the giant military-industrial supplier United Technologies think it was best to move the jobs to Mexico?

The cost of energy, taxes, transportation, environmental mitigation expenses, and actual labor laws here in the United States. Oh yeah, and greed. Corporations don’t have loyalty to anything other than money. People are who have ethics and need to be in charge.

There is also the fact that many workers at this facility are in the United Steelworkers Union. What did the union do to help keep their workers competitive? Did they constantly ask for more money or less work? Or did they spend the dues collected on political donations and other crony actions?

Think about those factors are you support “free trade” in conjunction with labor and environmental laws we pass here. When we protect the environment and workers rights, we become uncompetitive in a global market, working against manufacturing jobs in the USA. And no, a centrally planned economy for you Socialists and Communists, will never work either (see Venezuela and their rationing of everything since their re-nationalization has broken their economy).

Look, I want Mexico to have a growing economy with jobs for their people. What I don’t want is American jobs lost for that result. It does not need to be a zero-sum process, their is room for both countries to grow manufacturing jobs.

However, the contradictory stances of people here in the United States is pushing this process along. Either stop supporting “free trade” or stop supporting labor and environmental laws. They ARE mutually exclusive unless the trading partner supports labor and environmental rules as well.

If you are unhappy with this move to replace American workers with workers in Monterrey, Mexico, then boycott Carrier & Bryant heating and air conditioning systems. But, you also have to be consistent in what you are supporting.

My thoughts are similar to some of the expletives said by workers in this video.