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News and Views Local 2330
News
Why Manufacturing Matters9/19/2006
Some people say that we shouldn’t care about our declining manufacturing base. They sat that it’s a natural part of economic development to shift from manufacturing to service employment. Just sit back and let the market take care of it.
The problem with this argument is that it means a continuing decline in the living standards of Canadian workers. Manufacturing jobs pay, on average, 30% more than service jobs. And well-paid service industry jobs depend to a large extent on the market provided by a healthy domestic manufacturing sector. Even with a strong manufacturing sector, many of the new service jobs can be moved offshore through internet-based technologies. Without a strong manufacturing base, the new service jobs are overwhelmingly low-paid, low-skill and insecure jobs.
We are replacing higher paid, more stable, more unionized employment, with low-paid and insecure jobs. The resource sector isn’t the answer. It generates relatively little employment, and it is inherently unstable, going through frequent boom and bust cycles depending on world markets, wars, etc.
If we are going to have an economy that provides stable, well-paid employment (and stable communities), we need a strong and growing manufacturing base, providing good jobs directly and through “spin-offs” in related service sectors. We need to reinforce our strong sectors, upgrade the value of our resource exports through value-added manufacturing, and create new growth sectors.
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