Jobs: Electrolux

Electrolux: As reported by U.S. broadcaster National Public Radio, Electrolux will soon move jobs from a town outside Montreal to Memphis, Tenn., where it will produce ovens and stoves in a brand new, high-tech plant. It will go from paying a base union wage of close to $19 an hour in Canada to about one-third less in Memphis. Employment is expected to grow to 1,200 over five years, but with no guarantee as to how long the jobs will last, according to The Chronicle Herald. In rationalizing the subsidies, politicians pointed to 2,800 existing jobs in nearby Springfield that might also have been lost to Mexico, the main competing bidder and Nova Scotia is not the only jurisdiction to throw absurd amounts of money at prospective employers. Consider the case of Electrolux. It started in vacuums but is also the second biggest appliance manufacturer in the world. For this, Electrolux will receive a tax break and cash totalling $188 million from city, county and state taxpayers. That approximately equals the cost of building the plant. It is also about $152,000 per low-paying job. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.