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Steel workers - why the special treatment?


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Plus the fact, as I keep saying, is that us consumers are not prepared to pay the extra costs.

 

Increased raw materials, increased labour costs, increased manufacturing costs = increased prices.

 

You cannot moan about lack of British jobs, lack of British manufacturing, lack of a "living wage" and then go out on the streets and buy the cheapest, crappiest imported products you can find in the pound shops and supermarkets.

 

How do people actually think these things get made and sold so cheaply. Its business. We create our own demands. We have to take responsibility for ourselves.

 

All very correct.

 

One of our friends is always banging on about the living wage and such, went over their place and they're clearly well into buying the cheapest no-name stuff on the market for everything.

 

---------- Post added 28-10-2015 at 13:17 ----------

 

Little mention of budget, costs, finances in that lot.

 

All very well and good but what happens when the costs of using all this British labour, raw product and processing is 10x 20x 30x the cost of having imported part or all of such product or service?

 

It does not grow on trees.

 

Whats worth remembering when it comes to these large public projects is:

 

A: Money is (apparently) no object

B: The 'budget' is just a guideline

C: We always end up paying many times more than planned, so it might as well be to a British company for once.

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The current low price of steel is supposedly down to the Chinese dumping steel onto the market cheap.

So using British steel would only be 'expensive' compared to the current, depressed price of steel in general. It would be as competitive as it ever was with the previous "normal" price before market manipulating dumping took place...

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The current low price of steel is supposedly down to the Chinese dumping steel onto the market cheap.

So using British steel would only be 'expensive' compared to the current, depressed price of steel in general. It would be as competitive as it ever was with the previous "normal" price before market manipulating dumping took place...

 

No the current low price is only partly down to chinese dumping, the more significant reasons are overcapacity in the market and low demand following on from the recession.

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So we'll let our industry die and the Chinese will support theirs. Then when the market is no longer over capacity and when demand picks up, guess who'll make all the profit...

 

Isn't that part of being in the EU? We can't subsidise our industries? Genuine question..

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So we'll let our industry die and the Chinese will support theirs. Then when the market is no longer over capacity and when demand picks up, guess who'll make all the profit...

 

Unfortunately our laws prevent us from supporting the industry to that extent whereas the Chinese have no qualms about bailing out failing industry to keep people in work.

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Both the US and the Chinese will play by their own rules, but the UK has to follow EU rules whilst losing jobs and having industries damaged ? It is a lose lose for the UK and its inhabitants.

I generally agree that corporations normally have to stand on their own feet. But tough times call for tough measures. I believe ultimately the UK should remain in the EU but it will have to demand new rules(or break old ones) quickly to survive as a major trading nation

The most obvious way to support steel is to develop a program of renewing major steel infrastructure in the UK regions

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