Jobs Lost

[jimmy six]

Our company, which bought out So Cal Edison, is closing 2 of the power units where I've worked the last 8 years , 459 Megawatts. 450 megawatts are still left. 13 guys are either loosing their job or moving to a new location; 4 from maintenance and 9 from operations.

I'm the oldest guy at 67 in the plant and was able to stay (something about old equipment and old guys knowledge) The plant was built in the late 50's. Hope to stay one more year but it will be hard to give up the trailer storage, machine and weld shop..........For some not a "happy new year"..........JD

[hotrod]

A lot of that going around with the new EPA regulations coming down the pike.

Hope things work out well for you, and the other guys can find other slots to move to.

Larry

[GH]

JD, speaking of old guy knowledge, I just went back to work (70 years young) at a stainless steel food processing equiptment company. I am doing stainless steel welding and fabricating where I worked back in the 60s, 70s and 80s. I am just working about 15 hours a week.

[jimmy six]

I'm at 32 hours a week so I can keep some of the bene's. Worked out that only 3 are losing jobs and the rest have found spots at the 2 other locations. I know it sound funny but I actually like what I'm doing especially trouble shooting something that isn't working and making the obsolete parts to fix it.

Most baby boomers are rethinking retirement and they should...I believe we are in a lot better physical than the previous generation and sitting on the couch watching the tube doesn't cut it.

Being a "war baby" give me that edge on those coming along....Still diving a racecar and having fun...JD

[55chevr]

My employer, American Airlines, has gone into bankrupcy for a number of reasons but one is that our competitor airlines are doing major overhaul work in South America and Asia. We have 2 overhaul bases in the US and our mechanics are paid more than $1.60 that the Chinese mechanics are paid by United.  Putting us at a considerable disadvantage.

[RidgeRunner]

     I hope those Chinese mechanics are putting out higher quality work than the Chinese painters did on our ship in Hong Kong Harbor in '67..........

                     Ed

[Robin UK]

Or the ones who designed and built the bullet train

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8980879/China-bullet-train-crash-caused-by-design-flaws-and-sloppy-safety.html

Robin

[Stainless1]

Most baby boomers are rethinking retirement and they should...I believe we are in a lot better physical than the previous generation and sitting on the couch watching the tube doesn't cut it.

Haven't found time to sit on the couch to do much more than spend a little cyber time with my racing buds... Still trying to figure out how I had time to go to work and get stuff done....

[SPARKY]

On Andy's buggy we had to dig the old rusted out tail light housings out of the trash bin and scavage parts to make the new ChiCom replacements work, the bulbs would not stay in the new ones 

[Rex Schimmer]

We love the Chicoms in California! We gave them a nice 1.2 BILLION dollar contract to build the new Bay Bridge. Chinese steel, Chinese contractors, Chinese labor. When it is done I will never cross it again!  I worked with a company in Texas, Atlas Copco that built blast hole drills, the kind they use in big open pit mines, they opened a shop in China and started to use lots of Chinese fabrications, they had to stop because of the poor weld and material quality. They still have a factory in China but it only builds machines for use in China, so they can kill themselves with poor quality equipment and not us!

Rex

[bearingburner]

I my 35+years in industry here in Western Mass I worked in 5 industries 4 of which closed and moved away.
It got so that no one wanted to hire me as I was a harbinger of closing.

[836dstr]

Rex,

I just saw a You Tube video of an ABC news report about the bridge work. The people supporting the contract award said that American companies bidding on the work could not find enough "qualified" welders to meet the project timetable.

A representative of one of the U.S. competitors said that was BS (well he didn't use BS). I thought Infrastructure Improvement was going to create U.S. jobs.

I hope they at least use U.S. inspectors!

Tom

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/us-bridges-roads-built-chinese-firms-14594513?tab=9482930?ion=1206853&playlist=14594944

[rambler jack]

Maybe Brown can solve the school problem and hire teachers from China. And while he's at it hire prison guards, with, no pension plan,the same place.
                       
                               Jack

[836dstr]

Jack,

The only problem with Chinese teachers is that they probably don't speak Spanish!

Tom

[jimmy six]

All of our qualified welders are Navajos....But you better have some overtime or they will drag up to the job that does..........