Saw something in the latest A.R. from NRA that Marlin is gonna close it's ancient factory in Conn, and split the production up between two different states. My concern is if all of their skills and product knowledge stays in Conn. while guys off the street start up in the new plants? Maybe they will be more efficient/profitable with new CNC gear and six sigma planned production flows, but what are the odds that the old hands that have the handed down knowledge and skills will show up in the new plants and keep the quality and reliability the same as always? Or do you argue, with computer controlled machinery, anyone can make anything in unlimited numbers, to exact specs, and a Marlin made in Conn, can be made the same in Taiwan, with no hiccups or loss of quality?
Marlin move-positive or negative?
- Thread starter Tom2
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ohen cepel
New member
I think it's better for them to consolidate and survive than be crushed by overseas makers.
I think Winchester could have survived if it had gotten out of the north east years ago.
Hard to make $500 items paying $30/hr when your competition pays $5 (or less) overseas.
I think they will be stronger in the end and have a much better chance of being around in 100yrs than if they had stayed in the anti-gun, union, heavily regulated, north east.
I think Winchester could have survived if it had gotten out of the north east years ago.
Hard to make $500 items paying $30/hr when your competition pays $5 (or less) overseas.
I think they will be stronger in the end and have a much better chance of being around in 100yrs than if they had stayed in the anti-gun, union, heavily regulated, north east.
FrankenMauser
New member
There are many Right-To-Work states that produce very nice products, at a fraction of the labor rates Unions require... and it's still a decent wage in most of those states.
I don't think there will be much "expertise and knowledge" lost when they leave Connecticut. It's not like everything they make is hand-fitted, stoned, polished, and tuned by master gunsmiths. Their firearms are like everything else on the market these days - designed to operate within the machining tolerances of the equipment that produces them.
Our mass-production firearms are no longer assembled with "skilled labor". They are assembled with "assembly line labor".
Save some money; move to a state that doesn't let Unions bully everyone.
I don't think there will be much "expertise and knowledge" lost when they leave Connecticut. It's not like everything they make is hand-fitted, stoned, polished, and tuned by master gunsmiths. Their firearms are like everything else on the market these days - designed to operate within the machining tolerances of the equipment that produces them.
Our mass-production firearms are no longer assembled with "skilled labor". They are assembled with "assembly line labor".
Save some money; move to a state that doesn't let Unions bully everyone.
telcomfaust
New member
http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/business/north-haven-marlin-firearms-plant
Marlin Firearms closing, 265 laid off
North Haven plant closing in next 18 months
Updated: Thursday, 25 Mar 2010, 11:20 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 25 Mar 2010, 4:54 PM EDT
North Haven, Conn. (WTNH) - Employees at Marlin Firearms in North Haven just got word late Thursday afternoon that they will be losing their jobs in the next 18 months.
265 people will be losing their jobs. The layoff will begin in May and the plant will be closed by June of 2011. The company tells News Channel 8 that they are moving the work out of state.
Employees we spoke with say they feel blindsided.
"We had a meeting at 3:30pm. They gonna phase us out," said one employee who has worked at Marlin for 19 years.
Founded by John Marlin in New Haven in 1870, Marlin Firearms is now headquartered in Madison, North Carolina. In 2007, Marlin was sold to the Remington Arms Company.
The North Haven plant manufactures a variety of rifles.
Marlin Firearms closing, 265 laid off
North Haven plant closing in next 18 months
Updated: Thursday, 25 Mar 2010, 11:20 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 25 Mar 2010, 4:54 PM EDT
North Haven, Conn. (WTNH) - Employees at Marlin Firearms in North Haven just got word late Thursday afternoon that they will be losing their jobs in the next 18 months.
265 people will be losing their jobs. The layoff will begin in May and the plant will be closed by June of 2011. The company tells News Channel 8 that they are moving the work out of state.
Employees we spoke with say they feel blindsided.
"We had a meeting at 3:30pm. They gonna phase us out," said one employee who has worked at Marlin for 19 years.
Founded by John Marlin in New Haven in 1870, Marlin Firearms is now headquartered in Madison, North Carolina. In 2007, Marlin was sold to the Remington Arms Company.
The North Haven plant manufactures a variety of rifles.
oilfieldguy
New member
I hope they can keep producing quality guns. I have a couple of Marlins and I really enjoy them.
I feel bad for the workers, but they must know that union shops are the first on the chopping block when companies are looking to increase shareholder profit.
I feel bad for the workers, but they must know that union shops are the first on the chopping block when companies are looking to increase shareholder profit.
teumessian_fox
New member
Which union represents them? I don't know much about unions but I suspect there's more to it than that. If Marlin relocates to a right to work state they'll have to pay a union wage, otherwise the union will try to form. Or, is that not how they work anymore.
I suspect Marlin is getting out of a part of the country that has an exhorbitantly high tax rate.
I suspect Marlin is getting out of a part of the country that has an exhorbitantly high tax rate.
FrankenMauser
New member
Many right-to-work states have regulations that allow employers to work around the formation of unions. Reasons for termination/reprimands/etc. can include everything from "unreasonable demands", to 'sabotaging' the company, to inciting rebellious behavior, to minor things like distributing way-bills...
(One of the states I worked in actually required 100% non-management employee agreement with the union formation. If you had even a single employee say "no", everyone was considered to have been an accessory to an attempted hostile take over.
...and easily terminated, or 'put in their place' by the company; since the company was protected by the state.)Plus.... most people value their jobs enough right now, that they won't be in a hurry to risk getting fired.
oneounceload
Moderator
Work to was to be split between Kentucky and Ilion
azredhawk44
Moderator
Kentucky and Illinois are both fairly pro-union states.
I think it's a short-sighted move by Marlin. If they're getting beat up by the Union in Connecticut and/or by tax rates, then they're not likely to fare better in Illinois. Kentucky seems like it would keep taxes down, though.
All in all... most of these companies should move west of the Mississippi. Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Montana.
I think it's a short-sighted move by Marlin. If they're getting beat up by the Union in Connecticut and/or by tax rates, then they're not likely to fare better in Illinois. Kentucky seems like it would keep taxes down, though.
All in all... most of these companies should move west of the Mississippi. Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Montana.
teumessian_fox
New member
If they pay a market wage that is considerably less than union wage, then the union has sufficient motivation to try to orgnanize them.
The non-union company would want to pay a wage comparable to their union counterpart if they wanted to remain non-union.
Cost of living is less in Kentucky, especially in the more rural areas such as that where the Remington plant is located. Wages should be less. Electricity is cheap (until Cap and Trade is implemented). The Mayfield area is fairly centrally located North/South and East/West with a good road system. So that means transportation costs should be less. So it's not just a Union/non-Union deal. BTW, in Kentucky there is a right-to-work and, generally, employees are "at will" meaning they can be fired for just about any reason so long as it doesn't run into the discrimination laws.
And, it's not like we don't know how to build things. Kentucky has a fair amount of manufacturing in the state for the above reasons -- Ford truck plant, Corvette, Toyota (problems with Toyota are design, not manufacturing). If there is going to be a quality problem, it won't be because of the labor.
And, it's not like we don't know how to build things. Kentucky has a fair amount of manufacturing in the state for the above reasons -- Ford truck plant, Corvette, Toyota (problems with Toyota are design, not manufacturing). If there is going to be a quality problem, it won't be because of the labor.
Which is why non-union and union pay is exactly the same.......not.
Just look at the non-union car makers like Toyota and such. If your workers are happy and satisfied, there is no motivation to Unionize. The union has nothing to offer them and takes significantly from them. People also now widely realize that all unionization does is price the workers out of the market, leading to the jobs leaving and massive unemployment.
I've been laid off from an entry level job I loved, and which could have lead to a much nicer job, because of the minimum wage law. Yet another poorly thought out policy.