Posted on 03/08/2006 9:19:50 AM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
Little Rock - Hundreds of people are out of work Tuesday night after a major announcement at the Levi Strauss company. The company's Little Rock distribution plant will be closing its doors as early as August. The move will put 340 people out of work. The plant is located just south of Little Rock off Interstate 530 along the Pratt Road Exit.
Levi Strauss closed down the plant because company officials said it already has three major distribution plants in North America and this one was no longer necessary. Little rock native, Mary Bleck, has worked at the plant for nearly 30 years, and she found out Monday during a managers meeting she would no longer have a job. She says her initial reaction was shock.
(Mary Bleck, worker) Because I thought we were prospering with all the work we had been doing and really was just initially shocked..."
Tuesday morning at 8:00, the rest of the workers got the news of the closing.
(E.J. Bernacki, Levi Strauss) "They've done great work. This is not a reflection on them at all. It's really just a matter of business conditions and our network being over capacity."
Bernacki said the workers will receive a competitive severance package, but that still doesn't take away the sting of losing a job you've had most your life.
(Bleck) "It's sad they are leaving. Thirty years is a long time to work for a company. Now here you're thinking about having to start all over again..."
Mary Bleck is only one of many who will have to start over.
I guess the old adage about how difficult it can be to read intent into an online posting is true. My take on Laz's comment was more along the lines of:
"Yes, another American manufacturer has closed a facility located in the States. We keep hearing about all the detrimental effects this is supposed to have on our nation, and yet the average American citizen continues to see his income increase year after year. How can this be?"
But that's just me. Strange how the same post can influence two entirely different responses, eh?
Oops. My mistake. mea culpa.
"I stopped buying Levi's and went to Wranglers when LS adopted some hoky pro-homosexual company policy years ago."
Kind of strange isn't it ?
People stop buying them about some PC policy by the owners,
company cuts costs by cutting jobs and moving them off-shore,
people complain about jobs going off-shore.
Wal Mart didn't "need" Levi at all. But if it wasn't for the changes Wal Mart forced Levi to make the rest of the retail world would have figured out they don't need Levi either and they would already be a company of the past. Levi was close to bankruptcy when Wal Mart offered them a path out, the fact that Levi has found a way to screw up again isn't Wal Mart's fault.
Not lead based I hope! :)
Hey, Willie, I did my part. Stopped buying Levis years ago when I found out they support the Brady bunch. Every time I buy some new Carhartts I call and and tell them and remind them why. They never seem to care, though. LOL!
It's a distribution center. That means it's where the customers are, so if they have a distribution center in Mexico, it's because they have customers in Mexico. They're really pretty leftist so most people who wear their product have shifted their purchases to more pro-American companies.
I worked at the telemarketing firm in Annapolis, MD that handled all of the phone calls and mail Levi received because of their dissing the Boy Scouts.
The people I worked with laughed at the claims made in the mail, claims that talked about homosexuality's desire to be accepted and to get the right to marry. The other workers had no clue.
I loved answering the phones and telling the caller that I thought they were right. First, it befuddled the ones who were angry, and second, it helped the ones who were not angry, to get angry, because they needed to be angry.
I was let go from that job despite the fact I out-sold my entire team collectively when we sold stuff and not answered the Levi calls.
Globalism as practiced in this country stinks...it is unfair to American companies. Imagine our government giving tax advantages if people move industry overseas-it's happening. The government refuses to enforce trade agreements-allowing foreign business to screw American companies. The government allows illegals to drive wages down and is in favor of guest worker programs to take the few remaining jobs that will be left when globalism reaches its peak. In the end the entire Amerian workforce will take a big hit. Personally, I am vote Republican because Democrats are worse. I dislike them both.
Good. I stopped buying Levi's when they got into the leftist, environmentalist anti-conservative website business.
Translation: We can pay the illegals in California and New York less money to route the shipments... have a nice life.
You got it. I'll bet that exactly.
same here. good riddance to bad rubbish.
We have not purchased Levi's for over 15 years because of their pro-homosexual, leftist policies. I think they were one of the first companies to give their homosexual employees "partner benefits".
Levi jeans are like Coke. Everyone in the world knows the American brand and they all want it. I get requests from friends in Brazil and Europe for Levi jeans all the time. How can you guys hate them so much? Give me 505's and 501's over Wrangler/Lee jeans any day. The only other jeans that I like are Old Navy (once in a while)..
I've gone with Wrangler and Rustler for about as long as I can remember - better fit than Levi's at 1/2 the price. I buy Levi's dress slacks although not their goofy looking Dockers.
go on ebay and knock yourself out selling them.
I'll stick to Carharts until I hear they're leftist asses.
As of 2003,
Bergen says the most challenging part of the technology overhaul was changing from a national distribution system to a regional one. Before, all Levi Strauss 501-style jeans, for example, arrived at stores from four distribution centers in Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada and Arkansas. This wasn't good enough to meet Wal-Mart's demands for rapid-fire replenishment.
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