I was sorry to read in The Dispatch on Monday, Sept. 22, about
the closing of Indian Motorcycles’ production facility in town.
I was sorry to read in The Dispatch on Monday, Sept. 22, about the closing of Indian Motorcycles’ production facility in town. There’s nothing like the old “blindside” for those 360+ employees when it came to receiving bad news about your employment status – especially on a Friday afternoon.
That timing really sets the mood for a great weekend of fun and relaxation after hearing words like “Here’s your paycheck Bob, and oh, by the way, we’ve closed down the company today, so you’re no longer employed, and since we’re broke, there’s no severance pay for you. Thanks for all your help. Good luck.” Yeah, thanks a lot.
You’d think this calamitous announcement could at least have been made on a Monday morning. Senior management should have been extremely sensitive to what was going to happen to their employees’ emotions, especially for the nasty duty of employer-initiated termination of everyone.
But it sure seems like that was not the case here. I thought the whole concept of modern-day “teamwork” in the American work environment included the principle that employees are people, and therefore need to be kept in the company’s communication chain, even if that includes potential bad news. Dare I say the Golden Rule was missing here? Now I’m not advocating the propagation of rumors or scare tactics, but open communication lines so that employees are aware of what’s happening in their company either for good or not. And such communication from management doesn’t have to give away confidential company plans or strategies.
But there’s another troubling side to this story – the probability that even if Indian Motorcycles would have received the financial backing to keep it in business, it appears highly probable Indian would have moved out of Gilroy and out of California. Quoting an unnamed worker from The Dispatch article, it had been rumored “…Indian was [going] to move its headquarters to a cheaper location… [like] Alabama, with its low property taxes…”
Now I recognize that this was rumor, but in reality Indian Motorcycles could have saved even more money by moving its production facilities to Mexico rather than Alabama. But that’s a moot point now. While an Oct. 8 article in The Dispatch talks about a local bid for Indian, you really have to wonder that even with successful refinancing, why won’t the next two years expose the same old problem quoted: “…costs were rising as fast or faster…[than sales].”
California’s plans to retain businesses like Indian Motorcycles appear to be just as bankrupt as the state is becoming. Many manufacturing businesses simply no longer have the financial motivation to stay in California or the United States even if they are making a profit. Businesses all over California are getting the short end of the stick to stay here. Take, for example, the new bill passed recently by the legislature requiring small businesses with 50 employees or less to pay for health insurance for their workers. The Wall Street Journal estimated that this law “will push $5.7 billion in new costs onto the backs of employers.”
While health insurance is good/necessary for workers, economics dictates that those costs must be passed on in higher prices or services. And with all the economic shackles on employers of any size, does Gilroy or any other California city really think any manufacturing company has profit motivation to start-up business?
Why even bother if you’re going to be regulated and taxed to death?
So are we kidding ourselves about America’s economic future? Why is the loss of manufacturing businesses happening more and more in America, once the industrial giant of the world? According to economist Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, “with NAFTA and GATT in operation, corporations can move capital, factories and technology anywhere, which gives the comparative advantage to low-tax, low-wage countries with large pools of dependable and docile workers.” In other words, many U.S. made goods can no longer effectively compete. And apparently that list is growing.
Roberts adds: “As companies leave America, foreigners come in with their trade-surplus billions to buy up the U.S. companies left behind. We are not only losing industrial jobs, we are losing ownership of our companies.” And that’s an economic tragedy for all of us.
Now don’t get me wrong. I hope that somehow Indian Motorcycles can make a comeback in Gilroy. But I’m not optimistic. If it can’t, then its demise last month may be the closing curtain for manufacturing industry in Gilroy.
It’s a sad day to say goodbye to one more product that was “Made In America.”
