If they haven't made 460 trimmers by lunch time, they know they need to work a little harder and faster in the afternoon. But it's their decision to do that, not a manager's, she said. Mueller said he doesn't worry about daily production goals. If workers didn't make their target, they wouldn't get the annual production bonuses they've earned four years running. Taylor and her co-workers chatter all day, as they close in on the company's goal of 800 trimmers per shift.
Global trade is a mixed bag for the United States, as it is for most countries.
There is no question that it pushes jobs across borders. The North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada has relocated 440,000 jobs across U.S. borders since 1994, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. Seventy percent of the job cuts would be in manufacturing. Global trade also holds down wages. When workers try to organize to improve their salaries, company owners often threaten to move their jobs overseas.