US low manufacturing wages and global supply chain impact

 An article in the Wall Street Journal (March 17,2012) describes manufacturing wage rates in Indiana of $12/hour with no unions in Muncie, IN, compared to twice that rate in Caterpillar’s Canadian plant. The impact – closure of the Canadian plant and expansion of the Muncie plant. Is this low wage, no union, low state corporate tax rate competitive success for US manufacturing a sustainable advantage ? Will these lower wages and smaller tax base enable local governments to maintain required services – and will voters vote with their feet as the economy improves ? Do you expect low wages and worker schedule flexibility to become the norm for US manufacturing employment ?

About aviyer2010

Professor
This entry was posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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