Unit 8 Globalisation

listening and viewing

Text A

The global economy 

With globalisation there are many winners and losers — the poor people who are employed in factories are the losers because they work long hours for low wages. Yet these workers are also winners because it is better to get a little money than no money at all. The big companies are winners because they are getting their products made cheaply and can then make a big profit. The consumers are losers because they pay a lot of money for something that costs so little to make.

Here are several people talking about what globalization has brought to them.

         Larry Sleeman is an ex-steelworker, Cleveland, Ohio.

“The steel mills here used to supply steel to the motor industry in Detroit. But the Detroit manufacturers had to compete with foreign manufacturers, and that was bad news for us because our prices were not competitive. Today they import steel from cheaper producers abroad to help keep their costs down. Most of the mills have gone now, and there aren’t many new jobs. I’m lucky to have a job as a security guard. But, you know, I’d like my real job back!”

          Ranya Patel is a software programmer, Siemens (India), Bangalore.

     “I applied to Siemens before I graduated, and I was lucky. I got a job. We work closely with Siemens in Germany. They send us problems at the end of their working day, and we send back solutions, ready for their next working day.

     Companies like Siemens want to be here because we’ve got good IT skills and we speak English, and because electronic data transmission costs almost nothing. We also cost much less than German workers. But we accept that as we’re well-off by Indian standards.”

          Julia Kitale is an office worker, Kilimanjaro Textile Company, Nairobi, Kenya.

     “It’s hard, badly paid work, and it’s getting worse. Our customer is an American supermarket. They get quotes worldwide, and our quotes have to be lower to get the work. Our employers cut production schedules from 90 to 60 days. We have to work day and night. When we went on strike for better pay and conditions, we were all fired. Later, they said I could have my job back. I felt terrible for the others, but I have children to feed, so I took it.”

          Axel Fischer is a production engineer, Porsche, Leipzig, Germany.

     “I’m from Halle in Saxony-Anhalt. Unemployment is 20% there, and I became unemployed myself. Then I got work at the brand-new Porsche factory in Leipzig. This is one company that’s

decided not to move production to China! Instead we’re using the most advanced technology in order to be the best. Our annual production has increased to 30,000 vehicles. Most of these are exported, so we’re going to win through globalisation.”

          Sean O’Connor was manager in one of the top design studios in Ireland.

     “With the increase in globalisation, we were told that we were losing business to cheaper firms in India and China and that drastic measures would have to be taken.

     In January, my salary was cut by 20%. Then, in February, I was one of those people who lost their job when the company cut its workforce by a third. Since I need some sort of income I’ve recently been working in a fast-food restaurant, for which I receive £8.50 an hour.

     I keep applying for jobs, but jobs are few and far between. I have started thinking about going global and moving to another country.”

全球化的经济

在全球化过程中，有许多赢家和输家——工厂里工人是输家，因为他们工时长收入低。然而这些工人们也是赢家，因为有收入总好过没有。大公司是赢家，因为产品成本低，相应的利润就高。消费者是输家，因为他们得出很多钱购买成本低廉的商品。

下面是一些人谈了全球化对他们的影响。

 拉里·斯理曼，前钢铁工人，克利夫兰，俄亥俄州

“这里的钢铁厂过去主要为底特律的汽车制造厂供货。不过，底特律的制造厂还得和国外厂商竞争。对我们来说，这可是个坏消息，因为我们的价格没有竞争力。如今，他们从国外进口价格更低的产品来降低生产成本。现在，钢铁厂大都倒闭了，新的工作机会很少。我运气好，找到了一份保安的工作。但是，你知道，我还是想做回我的老本行！”

 阮雅·帕特尔，软件编程师，西门子公司（印度），班加罗尔

“毕业前我就向西门子公司求职。很幸运，我得到了这份工作。我们与德国西门子配合紧密，他们每天工作结束时把问题发给我们，我们再把解决方案发回去，刚好他们第二天上班就能看到。

“像西门子这样的公司选择在这里落户是因为我们拥有良好的信息技术，会说英语，而且电子数据传输几乎没有费用。我们的工资也低于德国同行。但我们也能接受，因为按印度的标准，我们收入挺高的。”

 茱莉亚·基塔莱，办公室职员，乞力马扎罗纺织公司，内罗毕，肯尼亚

“这份工作又累钱又少，而且越来越差。我们的客户是家美国超市。他们接受来自世界范围的报价，我们要拿到订单，报价就得更低。公司把生产进度从90天压缩到60天，我们不得不夜以继日地工作。为了更高的薪水和更好的工作条件，我们举行了罢工，结果全被开除了。后来，他们说我可以回来工作。我觉得对不起其他人，但是家里有孩子要养，我只好接受。”

 阿克塞尔·费舍尔，产品工程师，保时捷公司，莱比锡城，德国

“我来自萨克森－安哈尔特州的哈雷。那里的失业率高达20%，而我也是失业大军中的一员。后来，我在莱比锡城新落成的保时捷公司找到了一份工作。这是一家决定不把生产线迁到中国的公司！相反，我们采用最先进的生产技术，力争做到最好。我们的年产量已增长到3万辆，其中大多数远销海外。所以我们会在全球化中取胜。”

 肖恩·奥康纳，曾任爱尔兰一家顶级设计工作室的经理

“随着全球化的不断发展，我们被告知公司的业务被印度和中国的公司以低价抢走，公司不得不采取激烈举措应对。

“一月，我的薪水降低了 20%。紧接着，到了二月，公司裁员三分之一，其中也包括我。因为需要收入，我最近在一家快餐店工作，薪水是每小时8.5英镑。

“我一直在找工作，可是工作机会实在少得可怜。我已经开始考虑到国外发展，搬到那里去。”

Text B

Made in the USA? Not anymore

Since it was founded by a German immigrant in San Francisco about 150 years ago, Levi Strauss and Company has produced more than 3.5 billion pairs of the sturdy denim jeans that have become an American icon together with CocaCola, Hollywood and baseball. Workers in Bryan, Ohio, a town of 8,000, produced Etch A Sketch, another American classic for 40 years. However, today, neither Levi’s nor Etch A Sketch, which is owned and run by Ohio Art, nor the very important baseballs are made in the US.

In 2003, the makers of Etch A Sketch decided to shut its US plant and move manufacturing to China. Then Levi’s announced it was closing all its remaining factories in the US and Canada and outsourcing the work to Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. Every baseball used in Major League baseball games is made in Turrialba in Costa Rica. They are made by men and women who, on average, make $2,750 a year. A baseball player in the United States makes, on average, $2.4 million a year.

“It is hard work, and sometimes it hurts your fingers and your shoulders,” says Overly Monge, 37. “Temperatures inside the factory can rise to 95°F,” he says. He makes $55 a week after 13 years at the baseball factory, which is just above Costa Rica’s minimum wage. After he has paid for the necessities of life, he has about $2 a day left over for himself, his wife and his daughter. “But that is better than no work at all,” he says. There is only one other factory in Turrialba, which has a population of 30,000. The workers can each make four balls an hour. They are paid by the ball — an average of about 30 cents a piece. These balls are sold for $14.99 at sports shops in the United States. The people who sew the baseballs say they know that they are making a product for some of the wealthiest athletes on earth.

Levi’s, Ohio Art and the American baseball are just three examples of the many American companies, including giants like Boeing and Microsoft, which are outsourcing jobs to countries where labour and other costs are lower than in the US. Since 2001, the US has lost nearly 3 million factory jobs, and it is not just manufacturing that is moving overseas. Technology has made it easier for many types of jobs to be located almost anywhere. As a result, thousands of software-development and call centre jobs, for example, have moved abroad.

But the experience of workers at Levi’s and Ohio Art shows that outsourcing can be hard. Levi’s is closing its North American plants as part of a restructuring that will cut the company’s workforce from 37,000 in 1996 to 9,750. Among those laid off were 819 employees in San Antonio. Clara Flores, 54, who sewed jeans in San Antonio, has worked for the company for 24 years, and she says that Levi’s is providing retraining and other benefits that help a little. But she adds that it will be hard to find a comparable job: $18 an hour, four weeks of paid annual holiday, and family and dental medical insurance for just $24 a week. “Where are you going to find something like that?” she asks.

美国制造? 风光不再

 李维·施特劳斯公司于大约150年前由一位德国移民在旧金山建立，迄今已经生产了35亿条结实的丹宁牛仔裤，与可口可乐、好莱坞及棒球一起成为美国的标志。神奇画板，美国的另一个经典产品，40年来其产地一直是俄亥俄州的布莱恩，一个8000人的小镇。可是如今，李维斯也好，俄亥俄艺术公司名下的神奇画板也罢，还有非常重要的棒球，都不是在美国本土制造的。

2003年，神奇画板的制造商决定关掉在美的工厂，将制造部门迁往中国。之后，李维斯宣布关闭美国和加拿大剩下的所有工厂，把业务外包到亚洲、加勒比地区及拉丁美洲。职业棒球联盟使用的每一颗棒球都是在哥斯达黎加的图里亚尔瓦制造的，工人的年均收入为2750美元。而美国棒球运动员人均年收入为240万美元。

“这活儿很辛苦，有时会伤到手指和肩膀，”37岁的奥佛莱·蒙奇说。“车间的温度有时会高达95华氏度，”他说。他在棒球厂已工作了13年，每周收入55美元，勉强在哥斯达黎加最低工资水平之上。在购买了生活必需品之后，每天留给妻子、女儿和自己的钱就只剩2美元了。“不过这样总比没有工作好，”他说。人口3万的图里亚尔瓦另外只有一家工厂。每个工人每小时可以制造4颗棒球。他们是计件工资——平均每颗球约30美分。这些棒球在美国的体育用品商店零售价为14.99美元。这些缝制棒球的工人说他们知道自己是在为世界上最有钱的运动员制造产品。 

李维斯、俄亥俄艺术公司及美国棒球仅仅是众多美国公司外包生产的三个例子，这些公司——包括波音和微软这样的巨头——都把工作外包给劳动力和其他成本低于美国的国家。自2001年起，美国已失去了近300万个工厂岗位，而且流向海外的不仅仅是制造业。科技让许多种类的工作可以在几乎任何地方开展，结果成千上万诸如软件开发和电话客服中心的工作都移到了海外。

然而，李维斯和俄亥俄艺术公司工人们的遭遇表明，外包可能问题很大。作为重组计划的一部分，李维斯正着手关闭北美的工厂，将员工总数从1996年的3.7万人裁减到9750人。这些下岗员工中有819名在圣安东尼奥。54岁的克拉拉·弗洛雷斯在圣安东尼奥的李维斯工厂缝制了24年牛仔裤，她说李维斯提供了再就业培训和一些其他福利，略微缓解了一下窘境。不过她补充道，很难再找到与之前相当的工作：每小时18美元，每年4周带薪假期，每周仅24美元的家庭和牙科医疗保险。“到哪去找这样的工作？”她问道。