The HWY 23 Job Loss Corridor - Reactions

Not what one would think.

1. Owen at Boots and Sabers thinks:...Governor Doyle will dispatch an intern from Commerce to explain the benefits of a regional cap and tax system to them.


2. The Liberty Tree Lantern views this as yet another reason why Wisconsin Can't Wait for the election to get rid of Governor Doyle.


3. The Mayor's Page notes the story and sets off a comment discussion on the impact of Fond du Lac losing 1,900 some jobs.


4. Dad29 weighs in: mulling over other factors that may be in play.


5. Northshore Exponent pretty much says Doylediddit

Now, surprisingly enough that is about the sum total of the blog reaction to the MJS story and radio reports on the possibility of Mercury Marine consolidating in Oklahoma.

The Appleton Post Crescent presents a few notable facts. First, everyone in a position to know anything is not disclosing information, a lot of the standard comments saying things like "I have no comment on anything that may or may not be discussed", which essentially says (especially in light of the rumors) yeah we are talking about it.

Unlike the Thomas Products Case the state of unionization at both plants is being reported. The Post Crescent in the above story reports the Stillwater plant is not unionized and I know for a fact that there is a union at the Fond du Lac location and that union is the International Association of Machinists. In the Thomas Products case I had to talk to a friend involved with negotiations to save the jobs to find out there was unionization on both ends of the transfer (making the union factor equal in both locations).

I really fear for those jobs and if you think the job loss stops at 1,900 direct Mercury Marine employees you are mistaken.

I will be following this case closely.