opinion

LETTER: Automation bigger factor than trade in job losses

Job opportunities still abound. There are plenty of success stories including those of my father, my nephew and myself.

I was raised in Garfield, a blue-collar town in Bergen County. My parents were immigrants from Slovakia in Eastern Europe. They were uneducated, coming to the U.S. during the Great Depression. My father eventually landed a job at Forstman Woolen Mills, which had a sprawling complex in Garfield, employing 5,000 people.

As a laborer, he scrapped out a living, bought a house and raised six children, one that went on to be a lawyer. Another became a registered nurse and three ran their own businesses. Then things went drastically wrong. In the early 1950s my father’s employer decided to move his factory to the Carolinas for cheaper labor and no unions.

LETTER: Manufacturing jobs never returning to U.S.

My father was already in his late forties and didn’t even drive. He didn’t give up. Instead, he persevered and moved on to the next stage of his life. With the advice and help of my older brother, he started his own landscaping business and worked it until his retirement. Then my younger brother took over the business.

My heart goes to the people in the Rust Belt and all the others who lost factory jobs. Now, they need to reinvent themselves. They must move on to new horizons. My immigrant father did it. I re-invented myself three times including opening my own business in 1982.

There still is a lot of manufacturing in this country. However, automation of factories is a much bigger factor than foreign trade in the loss of factory jobs. The fact is, 88 percent of lost jobs were taken by robotics. We all need to be inspired by heartwarming stories but more importantly we must get the facts right about what actually happened to our manufacturing jobs.

Peter Murcko Jr.

Wall

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