This article could have been written about Pittsburgh, Youngstown, and the surrounding towns in the 1980s when I was working on the steel industry. The difference is that then the steel industry was not internationalized, though the process had begun in the 1990s after the major round of industrial restructuring in the US and some technological breakthroughs.
But why the "irony" as Louis editorializes? Thai or Indian capitalists will respond to the economic/profit conditions just as American or British capitalists did before. Remember what US Steel’s chairman David Roderick’s commented, “U.S. Steel is not in the business of making steel. It is in the business of making money” when it was closing mills left and right. The article also indicates capitalists and capitalism is no longer the purview of the triad (US, Europe, and Japan) but its global expansion includes even those (former) peripheries (South Korea, India, etc.) which were often on the margins capitalism proper. The irony is that despite the rise of capitalism elsewhere there is pauperization everywhere not quite the capitalism that seemed to lifted a lot of boats in earlier epochs. Anthony xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Anthony P. D'Costa, Chair & Professor of Contemporary Indian Studies Australia India Institute and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne, 147-149 Barry Street, Carlton VIC 3053, AUSTRALIA Ph: +61 3 9035 6161, http://www.aii.unimelb.edu.au/ <https://owa.unimelb.edu.au/owa/redir.aspx?C=KGdpeyp6YEyjUaiENKoAtx8nOn9uStAIlCVtCNE3uLxqkGIwkWdEYjJXILfPlddrM0Q1713syQQ.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.aii.unimelb.edu.au%2f> Podcast: https://theconversation.com/speaking-with-anthony-dcosta-on-the-challenges-facing-indias-economy-43913 ICAS 9 Adelaide: http://www.icas9.com/workshop-SASAA.php *New Book: *After-Development Dynamics (on South Korea) http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780198729433.do *Forthcoming Book: **http://www.tandf.net/books/details/9780415564953/ <http://www.tandf.net/books/details/9780415564953/>* *New Book Series (Dynamics of Asian Development)* *http://www.springer.com/series/13342 <http://www.springer.com/series/13342>* xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 7:55 AM, Louis Proyect <[email protected]> wrote: > (The irony is that the steel mills were owned by Thai and Indian > multinationals.) > > NY Times, Oct. 20 2015 > Steel Mill’s End Puts Upheavals of Modern Britain on View > By KIMIKO DE FREYTAS-TAMURA > > REDCAR, England — This small town on the North Sea, famous for a > century-old mill that produced the steel for some of the world’s most > iconic bridges, has been shattered by the news that the plant is about > to shut forever, taking 2,200 jobs with it. > > The upheavals of postindustrial Britain were on display one recent > evening at O’Grady’s, a local pub, as steelworkers shared their sorrow > just a few feet away from a businessman who sells cheap Chinese steel to > the British government, something many in Redcar complain about. > > “Everyone’s going crackers,” said Conrad McCormick, 38, a married father > of two who lost his job at the mill, which made steel for the Sydney > Harbor Bridge in Australia, the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zambia and 1 > World Trade Center in New York. > > “The only thing I’m sure of in my life right now is this,” he said, > holding up a pint of beer. > > Across the pub, also pint in hand, stood Jim, a 61-year-old businessman > who declined to give his surname. Jim said his midsize company was doing > well selling Chinese and other foreign steel to the government to build > railways, wind farms and public buildings. > > Britain “is saving money and cutting the public deficit by importing > cheap material from abroad,” he said. > > The final closing of the Teesside Steelworks plant, founded in 1917 and > most recently owned by Sahaviriya Steel Industries of Thailand, was > announced on Oct. 12. Earlier in the month, the British unit of > Sahaviriya, which operated the plant, filed for bankruptcy, and the coke > ovens were kept burning amid talks of a takeover by another company. But > those talks fell through. Once the coke ovens go cold, there is very > little chance of restarting the plant. > > The same forces are also buffeting another steel company, Tata, which > announced on Friday that it was slashing 1,200 jobs in Britain, or 7 > percent of its work force there. > > The government has announced a compensation package worth 80 million > pounds, or about $123.5 million, for the Teesside workers, involving > retraining and money for start-ups, but the latest crisis was the final > nail for the famous steelworks. > > Redcar, a northeastern England town of just 35,000, is in a region > already suffering from Britain’s highest unemployment rate — 8.5 > percent, three points higher than the national figure. At least 10 > percent of young people here are unemployed, and hundreds of > steelworkers on contract have been fired in addition to the 2,200 > employees. > > Once renowned for its solid industrial jobs, the town is now famous for > its “charity shops, pubs and takeaways,” said Claire, a 35-year-old > nurse who is married to a steelworker. > > Without steel, Redcar offers little else to the world, except for modest > summer seaside tourism. Even then, it is badly served by the local rail > network — a slow, four-carriage train on rickety tracks — and British > tourists find it easier to fly to Spain. > > “It’s such a small town, it’s forgotten by everyone else,” said Alan > Bunn, 38, another steelworker who has been laid off. > > The loss of Redcar’s competitiveness is on open display: Even the soccer > stadium in the nearby city of Middlesborough was built using German > steel. An offshore wind farm in the sea near the town was built with > German and Belgian steel. > > An official at EDF Energy Renewables, which operates the wind farm, said > the company’s policy was to use local material. But local steel was > found to be “not up to par with the company’s standards of quality,” the > official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the > sensitivity of the issue. > > The government is trying to spur the economies of larger northern cities > like Manchester and Leeds, but not those quite as far north as Redcar. > Its streets are lined with shuttered stores; there are 12 charity shops > and six pawnshops. Cafes, restaurants and hotels that once relied on > hundreds of contract workers are empty. > > The only other large-scale employer in Redcar is Sembcorp, an energy > company based in Singapore that employs 270 workers here. > > “No one really cares about the northeast,” said Mr. Bunn, the > steelworker. “You grow up feeling that way. It’s common knowledge.” > > Politicians have lost a lot of credibility among Redcar residents, he > said, and voters are rejecting the dominant parties to register protest > votes instead. In the May election for a parliamentary seat, the local > candidate for the anti-immigration U.K. Independence Party did well, > coming in just shy of second place. > > Residents and workers like Mr. Bunn acknowledge that job losses are > inevitable in a market economy. But there is widespread anger at the > government for appearing to abandon the steelworks and the community. > > Workers and local employers say they want a robust industrial plan to > level the playing field for British steel makers. For example, they say, > Britain’s environmental taxes and energy prices, which are the most > expensive in Europe, must be reduced. They also want the government to > impose higher tariffs on Chinese imports and require companies and > public works to use local sources for some of their material. > > “It’s not that we’re trying to pick on China,” said Gary Klesch, a > British-American businessman who this year decided against buying a > Tata-owned steel plant in Scunthorpe, about 70 miles south of Redcar, > citing high energy costs and taxes. China gives its steel industry > stronger support than Britain does, he said, “and while China doesn’t > break trade rules, they are bending them.” > > The Conservative government of Prime Minister David Cameron has ruled > out that kind of intervention. > > Jason Raj, a spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and > Skills, said the government had “taken action to help steel makers by > paying £47 million for compensation for energy costs.” In July, > Parliament voted to extend tariffs on Chinese wire rod products that > Britain believes are priced below fair market value, he said, and “will > consider further cases as they arise.” > > To Peter Atkinson, 56, the latest crisis is nothing new. He retired from > the mill in 2010, when it was being sold to its current owners. Its > owner then, Tata Steel of India, had laid off 1,700 workers after a > contract ended. Now his 26-year-old son, also a steelworker, is out of a > job. > > “It’s nice to look after other people in the world,” he said, alluding > to a recent announcement by George Osborne, chancellor of the Exchequer, > about a £3 million plan to teach soccer in China. “But sometimes you’ve > got to look after your own.” > > There is a lot of griping in Redcar about China, which the Cameron > government is hotly pursuing for trade deals. China produces half the > world’s steel, and its dominance resonates here because Britain, too, > once produced half the world’s steel. > > China has vast steel stockpiles, amassed during the years after > Beijing’s stimulus package in 2008. But now that its economy is losing > steam, China is selling its steel at prices that British steel makers > struggle to match. > > Britain imported 60 percent of its steel last year, according to UK > Steel, an industry lobby; Chinese imports make up 8 percent of Britain’s > demand. The figure seems low compared with other competitors from > Europe, the Middle East and Russia, said Gareth Stace, the director of > UK Steel. But the pace of Chinese imports is alarming, he said, > quadrupling in a matter of months. > > Back at O’Grady’s, Mr. Atkinson took a philosophical view. “We were born > and bred steelers,” he said. “But at the same time, we need to realize > that everything has a life span.” > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >
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