Submitted by Betsy Muse on Sun, 09/07/2008 - 10:44pm.
We've had a couple of SNAFUs with the upgrade. That's to be expected. Thank you for hanging in there with us.
The real reason Philip Morris is closing.
Submitted by LiberalNC on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 5:58pm.
It seems there's a lot of people that think the one reason the Philip Morris plant in Concord is closing is because people smoke less. I think that's BS.
Of course the company wants you to believe that's the main reason and states it in their press release that announces the closure of the Concord plant.
But something doesn't add up...
From the same press release:
"It is my hope that the majority of employees at Cabarrus will be able to relocate to Richmond.", said Mike Szymanczyk, chairman and chief executive officer of PM USA.
As a result of increased production requirements at its operations in Richmond, coupled with ongoing retirements of current Richmond-based employees, PM USA expects to be able to offer positions in Richmond to most North Carolina-based hourly employees and many salaried employees.
If they want to move the majority of employees to Richmond and there are increased production requirements there, don't you think that the demand for cigarettes isn't shrinking that much? Or are they saying that they have 2000 people in Richmond waiting to retire?
The cigarettes that were made for export in Concord are now going to be made in Europe.
Philip Morris can produce cigarettes cheaper in eastern Europe due to much lower wages and closeness to an expanding market.
Which brings us to the real reason for the Concord plant closure:
Total annual pre-tax cost savings of approximately $335 million by 2011
Translation: We want to close our Concord plant so we can start saving $335 million every single year even though Philip Morris USA made $4.6 billion in profits in 2005 alone.
Did you really expect anything else?
Of course Altria (parent company of Philip Morris USA) isn't going to say "hey, we want to close our plant in Concord so we can save a a few hundred million $ every year, screw the workers.", no they rather wrap that decision in some (mostly) phony reason that everyone will immediately believe.
On top of that they abuse the loss of 2500 jobs for another snipe at all those anti-smoking groups and people that sued them because they're dying from smoking Philip Morris products.
If you still believe that a multinational corporation like Altria cares about some workers in Cabarrus County, I'd like to sell you a bridge in Alaska.
cross posted from lefton49.com
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Forgot one more thing...
another reason I found for Philip morris to close the Concord plant and not the Richmond one, is the fact that they thought they could sell the land the concord plant is on for a lot more money than the land they have in Richmond.
Left on 49
Cabarrus Democrats
Weren't they getting a tax break by grazing cattle on that land?
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
I don't know (yet)
Why are you asking?
They got a whole bunch of other tax breaks and incentives which they said they would give back now.
They have to research whether they will still collect future incentive money!!??
Left on 49
Cabarrus Democrats
There was a lot of press back in 2004
about companies and developers who would get massive tax breaks by grazing cattle on their land so it qualified as "farm land". I started researching today, but demans of moving have kept me from finishing. Idon't know if that tax break and loophole are still onthe books.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
well they DO have cows...
..out there grazing on the land right next to highway 29.
Left on 49
Cabarrus Democrats
I know....and if it was a meat packing plant
or a cattle farm that might make sense.........
Methinks they do it for the tax writeoff.
WAIT....I have room for a cow or two. Can my husband and I NOT pay taxes if we have a cow grazing on our land?
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
Time for a cigarette tax.
I've said this before, tobacco growers need to realize that their product is being used to make money and bring in taxes everywhere BUT North Carolina. Their leaf makes every other state stronger adn better than North Carolina.
This should be the last straw. Put a $1 a pack tax on cigarettes and use ALL the money for grants to family farmers to switch into sustainable/organic agriculture. Not loans, grants.
One man with courage makes a majority.
- Andrew Jackson
One point you were missing about PM-Concord...
...and wasn't well-reported in the papers. The Concord Plant was effectively contracted by a European Subsidary of Altria. That subsidary decided to shift production to Europe for first the lower wages AND because production would be within the EU. So, if you want to blame any public policy - you do worse than starting with European protectionism.
We'll have three years to dissect the reasons and ramifications. I hope that people start seeing through the isolationist rhetoric being pushed by candidates on both sides and by idiots like Lou Dobbs. Understanding the basics of a global economy is a must for any worker today, and the subsequent understand will make it harder for candidates to sell a bill of goods that they can "protect" jobs by promoting tariffs, quotas, etc.
This community will be better off in the long run (5-10 years) without PM; because we can cultivate a more diverse economy. One of the challenges for Cabarrus County getting a AA bond rating was that the economy at the time of the bump up was dominated by Pillowtex and Phillip Morris and that was considered a significiant risk by the rating agencies.
Interesting,
but my question to you is who is cultivating that new diverse economy? I see only the methodical closing down of an economy with nothing in place to cushion the blows. I don't see the obvious connection to something better as you do. Please enlighten me.
Cabarrus County's Economy is shifting...
...from larger manufacturing to smaller manufacturing and other areas like motorsports, health care, and research (North Carolina Research Campus)
The press does a better job of covering the massive layoffs (PM, Pillowtex) and less about the success of smaller businesses (CTC and Shoe Show have both doubled in the past 10 years), even the largest employer employs 60% more people than it did 10 years ago. Then there's all of the new construction AND businesses that weren't even here 10 years ago like many motorsports firms.
We've still got our problems; but I don't think the sky is falling because the cigarette plant is closing in 3 years.
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