Comments on: Aussie Minister shows guts, foresight and concern; ours… not so much

By: lprent

lprent — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:31 +0000

For people who are ‘pro-business’ they do have an appalling inability to actually research what they say. Prefer to pick up their lines from other inaccurate people (like DPF) and run with them without engaging their brains…

Mind you, so do many of the media commentators…

By: Clarke

Clarke — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:05:28 +0000

Just a quick note for mike, infused and all the rest of the financially illiterate righties …

The Christchurch Press published the financial results for Bridgestone, which show that:

Companies Office files show Bridgestone, a tyre maker, retailer and wholesaler, lost $7.1 million in the 2008 calendar year in New Zealand. The Bridgestone NZ loss in the previous year was $3.8m, but the company made a small $1.2m profit in 2006.

[snip]

In the latest year, employee benefits were $33.3m, up $3m on the previous year.

Aside from normal costs, such as rent, freight and power, Bridgestone reported an unexplained $22.4m in “other expenses”, up from $17.7m in the previous year. The “other expenses” knocked the company from what would otherwise have been a profit into a $10m pre-tax loss, before a $3m tax benefit.

So it would appear from the accounts that the real issue was not the increase in staff costs of around 10%, but the $5 million escalation in these mystery “other expenses”. And it’s clear that the union has no power over any expense line other than staff costs – responsibility for the rest of the business obviously rests with management.

So before mouthing off about how unions have run the business into the ground, it might be helpful if you righties learned to actually read the financial accounts.

By: Bevanjs

Bevanjs — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:46:47 +0000

Seems to me the only spelling out he did was:

“We will discuss with the South Australian Government and Bridgestone what actions can be taken to provide alternative employment for people who are displaced by the decision of Bridgestone, the commercial decision of Bridgestone, to close its plant.

“We need time to actually assess the options.”

By: the sprout

the sprout — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:34:16 +0000

foresight for spelling out the longer term consequences of Bridgestone’s actions.

guts for daring to stand up to a transnational corporation and publicly decrying their venality – not something I recall National doing.

Carr’s response may achieve little, but it still seems like a more appropriate response for a representative of electors than just sitting on their hands and saying and doing nothing.

By: Zaphod Beeblebrox

Zaphod Beeblebrox — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:34:23 +0000

Why are you guys arguing about the loss of manufacturing, the cause is obvious.
The question is- what is the NZ government doing about creating value added better paying industries? What is our economic and education strategy? Maybe someone could ask Gerry Brownlee what his department is doing. Oh and you can ask Steven Joyce about the broadband strategy (where is it?) and Tolley about our education of our science/engineering students and Nick Smith about green jobs and Key about the tourism strategy. Move on guys- large csale manufacturing is not the answer.

By: Bevanjs

Bevanjs — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:39:25 +0000

“Aussie Minister shows guts, foresight and concern”
Concern yes but “foresight and guts” were demonstrated how?
What will his concern achieve versus reality. Will it achieve anything different from a politician that didn’t take an opportunity to sound concerned in the media? I suspect very little, why talk it up?

By: George D

George D — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:59:02 +0000

Lack of investment is a problem. But when it hasn’t been done for decades, as you’ve said, then it can be just too expensive to make keeping the factory open. Shutting it down and opening a new one where you can pay a pittance makes a lot of sense.

I wonder what they were thinking all that time they didn’t invest, however. A lot of foregone productivity.

And I do agree that many new factories in China and India are equally productive – why wouldn’t they be?

By: the sprout

the sprout — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:58:18 +0000

yep, false consciousness at it ‘best’

By: the sprout

the sprout — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:56:43 +0000

sounds like a major failure of management if that were true

By: the sprout

the sprout — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:52:56 +0000

oh really? and that was the same in Australia too was it, is that why they abandoned both countries simultaneously?

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:52:30 +0000

When is some NZ politician going to wake up. Our society is being destroyed by removing the discipline from our schools creating such a violent generation of kids. But on the other hand we as citizens regulated out of existence and are told when we can smoke, how we cannot smack our children, if we exceed the speed limit we get points deducted by a unbelievable number of policemen, who are unable to deal with routine crime because the are apparently so understaffed. On the other hand the importers and financiers have a free hand. Our free floating dollar and unregulated importers have destroyed all our manufacturing industries or else driven them off shore while our forestry, horticulture and farming is suffering. Our much vaunted privatization of state monopolies has created a series of greedy leeches and apparently given us no benefits at all, just helped to drive workers wages down and directors wages up. Successive governments have combined all the worst features of Sue Bradford and Roger Douglass yet we never here a murmur from either side of the house, where in the name of God has common sense gone?

By: Akldnut

Akldnut — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:38:36 +0000

Could see the writing on the wall of your handywork?

By: Captain Rehab

Captain Rehab — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:09:02 +0000

we should look at how to make it worthwhile for employers to employ in New Zealand, not slander companies who chose to move overseas.

House-slave

By: Duncan

Duncan — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:56:36 +0000

Main union on site is the Bridgestone Rubber Workers Union, about 80% of the members.Engineers would just have the maintenance guys I’d imagine. Get your facts straight mike.

By: Quoth the Raven

Quoth the Raven — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:44:46 +0000

infused – That’s called the market. The unions are simply bargaining on the market acting in their own self-interest as Bridgestone is in this instance.