i agree,  bringing a club to a gun fight is not going to work anymore.  agian as long as there are folks in our own country willing to do the work for less and the Southern states are headhunting and have formed commisions to go out and find companies to agressivly target as a potential investment with taxpayer dollars there is no fighting chance for the union members.  so many dont even realize this is going on!  the corperations are owned by stockholders from other states and all over the country.  though the stockholders may care about production in the united states if you think a stockholder from florida sitting on the board of directors gives a rats a$$ weather  Merc is in wisconsin or Oklahoma or where ever your smoken something.   When another states representitives show up at the doorstep of your machine shop and pitch the fact that there are thousands of people who will work for half the money and you can take your pick of the 800 job openings from thousands and then add to the fact that the Move will be paid for and the plant will be built and the corperate office will be built at no expence to the manufacturer along with the fact that taxes are lower ,cost of utilitys is lower and there are less restrictions on companies in there state for years to come all taxes and utilities will be waved anyway . IM Sory YOU HAVE NO CHANCE TO COMPETE . The fact that Merc even tried to stay here still boggles my mind.     like i said its a sad day, and its all over , they say the move will take 24 to 36 months , based on history im guessing your machine shop will be moved in  3 to four months and 6 months tops.  the corperate office will be next.

YES if you follow the money!  YOUR OWN TAX dollars are going to needy states! In return those states are taking money out of there budgets to form headhunter commisions to target attractive companys and offer packages to re-locate.   Your UNION dues and tax dollars are funding the folks in washington who can bring home the money and dole it out to states in need.    Your paying for Mercs move and so am I!   and thousands of other companies too! 

 EF we can sit here and dream if there was unity but there isnt any!  there are forces at work who's main goal is to devide!  forces at work in all forms including within ourselves. your historical stats tell a big story and i wish folks would take more time to look at history and what happend in the past to help with future decisions but even this is not the case and often avoided to push forward an adjenda of favor.  In the past a few Machine shop workers in this situation would get togather and develope a plan to go out on there own and start producing there own line of competive outboards.  you would have a few sharp marbles from the shop and the engeneering dept and grab somone from sales staff and a few money men and start up  a new operation.  Today with mandates on emisions and the competitive nature with cash flow issues and so fourth and the fact that the court system would be used and somone could not afford to fend off law suits and afford to fend off the massive assault that would be directed by the large outboard manufacurers and there connections.   Starting a new shop in fondy would be suicide for anyone who would try.  The massive amounts of cash needed to produce a product that would conform to this countrys emitions standards alone would be almost impossible for a limmited production operation.  SAD BECAUSE if there were such a little shop formed putting out well built moters (hell even carberated 10-100 hp outboards on a starter scale people would buy them up like crazy. the problem is that to conform to new regulation your little outoard machine shop would have to have so much invested that they wouldnt be able to save the public any money..   the law will not permit the old simple outboard technology to be used today.   EF, if you look at your figures threw the 1900's you will find that one thing isnt acounted for....  though the percentage of wealth hasnt shifted the amount of money taken from each houshold wealthy or otherwise has increased as of late at an astronomical rate.   though the wealthy can adjust the everyday joe cant hide. forget direct payroll taxes if you want to ...Take a look at property , sales tax , taxes and fee's emposed on everything under the sun!  fuel taxes and rising costs .  the little guy has been assulted for the last 20 year like crazy!  go back 20 years and look at what kind of drop the average houshold has taken in avaible spending or money able to be saved.   there are few who have any savings at all and after the paycheck is cashed have nothing close to what they had left over 25 years ago..  my utility bill went up 15 dollars a month  because they added another fee over and above usage!  im one houshold and that 180 a year out of my spending or savable income in one little shot.  gas tax goes up?  5 cents a gallon  your household uses 100 gallons a week... guess what YOU JUST LOST 260.00 in available anual income.  Remember thats an after tax hit so you in this day and age need to make 500.00 to cover the 5 cent gas tax increase for the year! Guess you just worked another week of the 52 in a year for NOTHING!   Do people have any clue how much these increases are costing them?   1 dollar a month per phone line in wisconsin's last budget passed. (i think it was a buck) anyway   home phone a buck and a family of 4 has 4 more lines so another 5 bucks a month and 60.00 a year. property tax increase?  cable bill ads a federal or state fee?.  city tax on another fee for garbage pickup.  the city of milwaukee adds a wheel tax and your registration goes up by 20 dollars a vehical in your houshold per year!  a pack of smokes goes up 75Cents? Smokers do you realize if you and your wife smoke a pack a day in wisconsin next week you will be spending another 547 a year than you were this week?  Another week of work spent after taxes with that increase alone!     let the government take another 20% of your check for national health care?   this is out of controle and its much bigger than a union non union issue. 

AND YES YOUR POINT IS TAKEN! PEOPLE CANT afford the outboard anymore and with each little tax increase or fee emposed wont be able to affort to fix or put gas in the one they have Now!    Forget wages going up! we cant keep up with cost of living.  and we havent even felt the 10-15% inflation hit we are going to be looking at based on history when our federal spending goes up so quick...  REMEMBER half your take home is already grabbed in taxes fees and the such..  so 10-15% inflation is doubled do to the fact that your availabe income is less than 50% of what you make!