Many of the big companies are firing a pretty large chunk of their workforce. Five thousand here, 10 thousand there and pretty soon it begins to add up. If the company can get along without them now what were they doing before?

The unions are raising Cain (or something similar) and are threatening to take the whole company out on strike. I guess they havent heard that they can easily be replaced by workers in some foreign country that will work for a fraction of the U.S. wage. The mass stupidity of the union bosses has always amazed me. Today they have almost no chips to play and they say all in. Boys, this isnt Texas Hold'em. They can wipe out the entire workforce.

When I was in Seattle recently I spoke with some of the guys on the Boeing picket line and I was amazed at their attitude. They seem to think the world owes them a living and they have the right to maintain their current life style. They are in for a shocking surprise when they find their job being sent to China to a worker who makes 60 cents an hour with no car, no house and NO benefits.

If you are a union man you hate what I just said, but the facts are there. From what I see the standard of living in the U.S. is going to come down. OK, you hate me, but killing the messenger will not solve the problem.

In order to stay in business companies must be able to justify labor productivity costs of $25 an hour. The guy standing next to you (maybe you) will be replaced by a more efficient machine and your union better help the company do it or there wont be any job at all. No one wants to throw you out on the street, but if your company cant compete they go under and you hit the bread line.

People must understand this is now a world market and competition is no longer limited to within our borders. The competitor for the job you are doing is not a guy in Milwaukee or Portland; he is in Asia or Russia. U.S. and European countries are sending work abroad not because they want to, but because they have to if they want to survive.

China has millions leaving the farm and heading for the big city because that is where the money is. Their government is as concerned about unemployment as we are. Whatever they earn in the city sweatshop is more than they had on the farm. Those workers dont have health insurance, vacations with pay, Social Security (or any other kind) and definitely no unions, but they are glad to be working.

Politicians will promise you 2 turkeys in the pot and 2 cars in every garage, cheap gas, retirement on full pay and all kinds of good stuff. Wake up. It is not possible.

Your adversary is not in the bosss office. Your competition is outside the USA. It is time we recognize this is a world market.

Al Thomas

Albert W. Thomas has spent most of his life in the field of finance. In 1965 he founded an insurance holding company, Security Dynamics Investment Corporation, after having been an agent and General Agent for several life insurance companies. In 1970 he became cofounder and president of Real Life Estate, Inc., that marketed a unique real estate and life insurance package.

After he became interested in commodities he bought a seat for his personal trading on the Chicago Open Board of Trade, which is now known as the MidAmerica Commodity Exchange. Later he became a full time trader and also acted as a commodity broker for a few select clients. By fellow floor traders Al is considered to be an excellent technical analyst much of which is outlined in his book IF IT DOESN'T GO UP, DON'T BUY IT! It became a best seller on Amazon.

In 1981 he sold his membership on the Exchange and with his wife, Carolyn, lived full time aboard their 41' ketch, the Aumakua (which means guardian angel in Hawaiian). They sailed in Florida and the Bahamas for two years.

He founded World Trading Group in 1984 that grew to the seventh largest introducing commodity brokerage firm in the U.S. with 35 offices from coast to coast, Alaska and Canada. It was sold in 1992.

Al is a graduate of Northwestern University with a B.S. degree in Commerce and is a member of MENSA. He is now president of Williamsburg Investment Company that syndicates his weekly financial column since 1999 to more than 300 newspapers and writes a financial market letter called Over My Shoulder that is quoted in Barron?s and many other publications. A 3-month trial subscription is available on his web site. He is a regular guest on several financial radio talk shows.

His favorite pastime is fishing.

Mr. Thomas is available for speaking engagements. Please call 321-453-5300 for more information.